LIL NAS X: Atlanta Rapper’s Viral Hit Isn’t Country Enough for Billboard
Written by KingCnote on March 30, 2019
WHAT I WANT TO KNOW IS WHY THIS IS ON ANY CHART AT ALLLLL.. JESHHHHHH
A song by an Atlanta rapper named Lil Nas X is causing music lovers to question what country music is supposed to look and sound like.
The viral hit “Old Town Road” charted on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot 100 and Hot Country Songs, but one of those honors has been ripped out of Lil Nas’s hands. Over a week after he was first published at number-19 on the Hot Country chart, Billboard pulled “Old Town Road,” with a statement that explained, “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.”
Some critics think the removal is an example of racism. Billboard says, “The decision to take the song off the country chart had absolutely nothing to do with the race of the artist.”
While the gatekeepers say Lil Nas X’s song isn’t country enough, he’s also received co-signs from some big names in Nashville, like Meghan Linsey, Jake Owen and Bobby Bones.