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Rapper Lil Nas X released Old Town Road in December 2018, a song featuring lyrics about cowboy hats, horse riding, and the presence of banjo samples. The song was removed from the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in March 2019, owing to reasons that the song did not merit inclusion in the country charts category.
In a statement by Billboard to Rolling Stone, it was mentioned that factors like musical composition were primarily examined when determining the genre of a song. Billboard stated on March 26, 2019:
“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.”
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There were multiple speculations about the song removal having to do something with Lil Nas X's race. In a follow-up statement to BBC, Billboard explained that the Old Town Road track "had absolutely nothing to do with the race of the artist."
Moreover, Beyonce has now entered into the country music arena with Cowboy Carter and Shaboozey's A Bar Song holds prominent places in Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart. In a recent interview, Nas addressed the same topic and indicated his feeling of "missing out."
"I wish this would have happened for me" — Lil Nas X talks about missing out on the country song genre
Lil Nas X talked about Shaboozey and Beyonce's success in the country music genre in a recent BBC interview dated May 20, 2024. He said that he was happy for the two artists and stated:
"But I wish this would have happened for me. I wasn't even able to experience this," Lil Nas X stated.
Moreover, on being asked if Beyonce's success has inspired the rapper to step back into the country music genre, he mentioned that he had been experimenting with some country sounds over the last couple of years. The rapper told BBC that he wanted to feel connected to the music genre and "not force it."
After his song was taken off Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart, Lil Nas X mentioned his observation in a Canadian interview on CBC dated April 17, 2019. He stated that as he listened to more songs on the chart, he realized they comprised country trap elements. Lil Nas X added that this made him question why his song wasn't on the chart.
The Holiday rapper collaborated with Billy Ray Cyrus for Old Town Road's official remix released on April 5, 2019. Both versions of the song reached 143 million streams in the U.S. He told the same news outlet that Billy Ray Cyrus gave him ample advice. The latter even compared Lil Nas X to American singer, Johnny Cash.
As per the crux of the same CBC interview, the rapper decided to put the Billboard controversy behind him.
"I don't really care at this point, because the song has its own life at this point. So whether it's on whatever chart, I mean, it's number one right now so, oh well," Lil Nas X added.
In other news, Lil Nas X’s documentary titled Long Live Montero dropped on Max January 27, 2024. It features the rapper’s journey as a touring artist in 2022. The documentary covers the practice it took him to become a stage performer. Commenting on the same, the J CHRIST rapper told BBC in 2023 that he “felt like an imposter” on stage because it wasn’t like interacting with people online.
