Why Lil Nas X Breaking Billboard Records Is Such a Big Deal
Since its debut in the charts,"Old Town Road" has been a lightning rod for controversy, leaving traditionalists stumped over how to classify the track—Is it country? Rap? Trap? Does it even matter?—and what to think about its quality. But the fact that it's even charted at all, let alone come to rule the roost, is more unlikely than you might think.Prior to unleashing his behemoth track on the world, Hill was just a kid trying to go viral in an increasingly digital world.
"When I first started to do music, I was kind of doing what I thought people would want me to do," he said, but when he came across a a beat on the site BeatStars, which allows aspiring artists to either purchase or lease instrumental tracks, entitled"Future type beat," he found what would ultimately allow him to do"whatSo, without ever meeting Young Kio, the teen in the Netherlands who created the instrumental, in part, after coming across the Nine Inch Nails...
"I knew the way I was going to have to push the song to get it to hit more people's ears," he told the magazine."I run a meme type of account on Twitter; I know what my audience is looking for. So I put some potentially funny lines in there."He self-released the track on December 3, 2018, promoting it as a meme before it went viral on the app TikTok, of all places.
While the song was blowing up on TikTok, Hill also made it available on more conventional avenues, like SoundCloud, iTunes, and Spotify."I labeled it ‘country' on each platform," he told."Country trap doesn't even exist when you're picking out the genres to upload, and I feel like it leans more towards country than trap."By the time the track broke onto the Billboard Hot 100 in early March, debuting at No.
Despite the publication's insistence that the decision had nothing to do with race, there were several people who found a black man being told his song doesn't qualify for a genre that tends to skew predominantly white troubling at best. The hip-hop community, in particular, leaped to his defense. "I wasn't expecting so much support because I just thought it would be one of those things that nobody really would care about," he toldabout the reaction.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Boyz II Men's Shawn Stockman Congratulates Lil Nas X on Breaking Their Hot 100 RecordBoyz II Men’s Shawn Stockman wants Lil Nas X to know he’s rooting for him.
Read more »
Music Writers Attribute Lil Nas X’s Success To Inventing Country GenreNASHVILLE, TN—Lauding the singer for his unique melding of roots, Americana, and Appalachian folk styles, music writers across the industry attributed the extraordinary success of Lil Nas X Wednesday to his invention of the genre of country. “What really sets Lil Nas X apart is his ingenious choice to create what I’m calling the ‘country’ genre, a completely novel kind of music that combines traditional American genres with a certain level of southern twang,” said Rolling Stone writer Will Hermes, adding that what made “Old Town Road” such a massive hit was Lil Nas X’s revolutionary choice to use the song’s lyrics to touch on little-used Americans themes such as cowboys, tractors, and horses, while layering them with folksy instrumentation like banjos to create an entirely new sound. “You can really imagine this ‘country music’ appealing to Americans everywhere, from the rural south to the heartland. Time will tell, of course. It might just be a passing fad.” Hermes said that he already saw several virtual unknowns like Keith Urban and Billy Ray Cyrus jumping onto the bandwagon of Lil Nas X’s new genre with their own country-inspired recordings.
Read more »
Lil Nas X's 'Old Town Road' Breaks Record for Longest Stay Atop Streaming Songs ChartThe record-breaking week comes at the same time as the song’s historic 17th week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Read more »
Lil Nas X’s ‘Old Town Road’ Breaks Billboard RecordAfter spending 17 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100, Lil Nas X’s country-rap hit “Old Town Road” has officially broken the chart’s record for longest-running single, an honor previously held by Mariah Carey’s and Boyz II Men’s “One Sweet Day” and Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito.” What do you think?
Read more »
Blue Ivy, 7, Has Landed On the Billboard Hot 100 ChartBlue Ivy is just getting started.
Read more »