Depending on who you ask, Lil Nas X is either a one-hit wonder or a barrier-breaking genius. Either way, his "Old Town Road" is leading him to some big places. The Atlanta rapper will appear with collaborator Billy Ray Cyrus at a show on Thursday, Oct. 17, at the Coliseum at Caesars Windsor.
Lil Nas X made headlines earlier this year when his song "Old Town Road" — a one-minute-and-53-seconds-long trap-country hybrid ditty that samples a Nine Inch Nails track — went viral on the app TikTok, catapulting it onto the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Billboard then removed the song, claiming it was not country enough — a curious choice considering many country artists, like Taylor Swift and Shania Twain, incorporate sounds from outside of country music into their records, and most modern mainstream country is just pop rock with a banjo anyway. Fans accused Billboard of racism. Then country superstar Cyrus stepped in and recorded a remix, bestowing Lil Nas X with his country superstar bona fides.
"When I got thrown off the charts, Waylon Jennings said to me, 'Take this as a compliment,'" Cyrus wrote on Twitter. "means you’re doing something great! Only Outlaws are outlawed. Welcome to the club!"
In the end, the joke's on Billboard. "Old Town Road" has dominated the charts all summer, and is on track to set the record for the longest-running No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 — a record it is almost certain to beat next week. (Though Lil Nas X's debut EP, 7, has received largely lukewarm reviews.)
Anyway, tickets go on sale at noon on Sunday here.
In the meantime, enjoy this video of a roomful of elementary school kids in Ohio absolutely losing their shit to a surprise Lil Nas X performance.
why is this video of a sea of elementary school kids going HAM to old town road literally the funniest video i’ve ever seen in my whole life pic.twitter.com/iXItFq50QG
— ari (@wasteIandbaby) May 30, 2019
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