Lil Nas X’s Trap/Country hit ’Old Town Road’ officially the No. 1 song in America
The powers that be at Billboard may have felt the song didn't fit what they consider 'country' but that didn't stop it from rising to the top of the nationwide charts
Billboard may not think that Lil Nas X’s song Old Town Road, is country enough for its Country charts but clearly the rest of America thought it was good enough to become the nation’s No. 1 song.
According to Billboard, in just a week, the increasingly viral hit has skyrocketed from No. 15 to No. 1 on the charts, and inspired memes and video tributes from fans all over social media.
Although having Billy Ray Cyrus featured in the recently released remix likely had a hand in attracting new fans to the trap music inspired country song, the version that is sitting at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 is the Atlanta rapper’s original solo track.
According to Billboard’s Gary Trust, “Lil Nas X is the first artist unaccompanied by another act to top the Hot 100 on a first try since Cardi B, whose “Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)” spent three weeks at No. 1 in October 2017.”
But earlier this month the entertainment media brand was attacked with allegations of racism after they pulled the song from their country charts claiming in a statement to Rolling Stone, “Upon further review, it was determined that ‘Old Town Road’ by Lil Nas X does not currently merit inclusion on Billboard’s country charts. When determining genres, a few factors are examined, but first and foremost is musical composition. While ‘Old Town Road’ incorporates references to country and cowboy imagery, it does not embrace enough elements of today’s country music to chart in its current version.”
The company denied that their decision was racially motivated, but the controversy and public outrage also attracted more listeners curious to see if they agreed with Billboard’s stance, including Cyrus who quickly decided to join in on the remix.
Lil Nas X took to social media to celebrate the news of his career milestone:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BwA2nxSlOp_/?utm_source=ig_embed
