A week after Lil Nas X, a nineteen-year-old musician from Atlanta, had his song âOld Town Roadâ thrown off the Country Billboard charts for not being âcountry enough,â he has emerged triumphant after his remix featuring Billy Ray Cyrus went viral on Twitter, YouTube and music streaming services.
The remix of âOld Town Roadâ already has over 340,000 views on Lil Nas Xâs after being published overnight and is the only song on Spotifyâs Top 5 in the U.S. not by Billie Eilish, according to Rolling Stone.
Billboard had initially accepted the original track â touted by Columbia as a âcountry-inspired rap trackâ â and then changed their minds last week, saying in a statement that the song âdoes not embrace enough elements of todayâs country music to chart in its current version.â
The original track has over 23 million views on YouTube alone after going viral on TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter.
The removal of Lil Nas Xâs original version caused backlash, with fans and public alike noting that black artists have continually struggled to break through onto the country charts. Beyoncéâs âDaddy Lessons,â from her album Lemonade was rejected by the Grammy Country Committee in 2016.
support to Lil Nas X prior to the remix release on Thursday, reminiscing about when he was thrown off the charts, telling Lil Nas X - âonly outlaws are outlawed. Welcome to the club!â