“That’s still the question.”ĭanny Kang, who co-manages another viral country sensation, Mason Ramsey believes that Lil Nas X’s race had nothing to do with country’s decision to symbolically exile “Old Town Road.” “That’s a hip-hop song,” Kang says. “When do we get to the point where can be accepted and played on other formats?” the insider says. When the music industry enforces genre borders after the fact, it becomes part of a power struggle about who has the right to make what and, in this case, whether black artists can fit in predominantly white genres. In today’s streaming world, however, songs can go viral before labels, radio programmers and playlist curators can sort them into genre buckets. The music industry still relies heavily on old-fashioned definitions of genre, which have always mapped on race - Billboard’s R&B chart, for example, was originally titled “race music,” while the Latin songs chart lumps together a myriad of genres and languages under one ethnic umbrella. 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.” Through a representative, Lil Nas X declined a request to comment on Billboard‘s decision.Įxpelling Lil Nas X’s single from Hot Country Songs points to a complicated racial dynamic. When determining genres, a few factors are examined, but first and foremost is musical composition. Billboard quietly removed “Old Town Road” from Hot Country Songs and informed Lil Nas X’s label, Columbia Records, that his inclusion on the ranking was a mistake, according to an insider with knowledge of the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity.īillboard did not publicly announce the change, but in a statement released to Rolling Stone, the publication said that “upon further review, it was determined that ‘Old Town Road’ by Lil Nas X does not currently merit inclusion on Billboard‘s country charts. Lil Nas X’s career on the country chart, though, was short-lived.

Related: Everything You Need to Know About the Yeehaw Agenda Now this outrageous hybrid is the latest bizarre viral phenomenon - it debuted on Billboard’s cross-genre Hot 100 chart, the Hot Country Songs chart and the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart all at once. Hooky, short and wildly loopable, “Old Town Road” took off on the app TikTok, which allows users to create video clips set to music.

“This shit bangs,” the star wrote, flashing a picture of Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road.” Lil Nas X’s genre-defying creation blends banjo strums and jaw-rattling bass, rural imagery and hip-hop signifiers. On Sunday night, Justin Bieber hopped on Instagram to announce his latest musical crush to 106 million followers.

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