Skip to main content

Billboard's decision to disqualify Lil Nas X's 'Old Town Road' from country charts is misguided


#LilNasXs #OldTownRoad  #CountryMusic #BillboardHot100
Do Billboard's country music charts have a race problem?
That's what some people are alleging after the Billboard charts disqualified  Lil Nas X's song "Old Town Road" from the country charts for "not embracing enough elements of today’s country music." And in 2019, when the industry is supposed to be rewarding forward-thinking artists pushing their genres forward, the charts body's choice to police an arbitrary definition of country music at the expense of the rising artist is woefully misguided.
The song, which rose to No. 32 on this week's Billboard Hot 100, is twangier than anything you’ll hear on rap radio, mixing banjos and trap beats as Lil Nas X raps about horses and cowboys before name-dropping Gucci and Porsches. Considering how Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line’s country-EDM hybrid “Meant to Be” ruled the country charts last year, “Old Town Road” seemed like another potential hit that could mash up genres and find country music success.   
But Billboard disagreed, with the charts’ decision-makers angering fans across the internet this week by disqualifying the song, with a spokesperson telling Rolling Stone,"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."
Fans supported  Lil Nas X on social media, with his fellow rapper Ski Mask tha Slump God  calling Billboard’s move “discrimination at its finest,” and country singer Meghan Linsey tweeting, “That is some BS. It’s got plenty of “country elements”  and its as “country” as anything on country radio, tbh.”
And the song's fans have a point noting the messy optics of a black artist seemingly being counted out of a genre that's dominated by white artists. The backlash grew to a point where a Billboard spokesperson was forced to explicitly deny that the decision was racially motivated, per Genius. Everything about the song, from its journey to popularity to its cowboy imagery, is incredibly of-the-moment, making Billboard's claims that the song isn't aligned with "today's country music" seem clueless.

“Old Town Road” is the rare hit that began as a TikTok meme and jumped to the Billboard charts, soundtracking videos of TikTok users wearing country garb, drinking out of bottles labeled “yee-yee juice” and otherwise transforming into cowboys. Since its release in December, the song has gained Lil Nas X (real name: Montero Lamar Hill) unexpected mainstream fame and a record deal with Columbia.
Beyond its virality, the song arrives at a time when country-Western imagery is trending among stars far beyond Nashville. Cardi B and Solange have both made cowgirl hats, chaps and boots staples of their recent tour looks and album visuals, and Twitter threads and deep-dive articles have celebrated the rise of the "black yeehaw agenda," spotlighting America's history of black cowboy culture and making the case that country aesthetics should be more diverse. 
That's why Billboard's move to exclude "Old Town Road" from the country charts is  so baffling. While "Old Town Road" still takes clear cues from country music, Lil Nas X's decision "not to embrace" the sound that dominates the rest of Billboard's country charts is the entire point of the song, an attempt to fuse two genres in a way that challenges the way listeners listen to both. 

 by Maeve McDermott, USA TODAY, March 29, 2019 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The most popular animated series, by state

#Animation #Cartoon #FamilyGuy #Sitcoms #RickandMorty #SouthPark #Archer #TheSimpsons  As  The Simpsons  heads into their 31st  season—further cementing itself as the longest-running primetime scripted series in the US—the Data Team at All Home Connections thought it would be interesting to find out your state’s favorite animated sitcom. Using a list of the top 15 most popular animated sitcoms, our analysts then used Google Trends to identify the most popular shows by comparing those with the highest search volume in each state. Take a look at our map to find out what your state’s favorite animated sitcom is and what other states like to watch across the country. Interesting Findings Here are some interesting findings that the data team came across when they started digging a little deeper into the results. Colorado’s favorite animated sitcom is  South Park . This could be because the town of Fairplay, Colorado is the childhood home of creator Matt ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Why Christopher Reeve's ''Superman' Is So Hard to Leave in the Past

#ChristopherReeve #Clarkkent #DCcomics #LoisLane #RichardDonner #Superman Forty years ago, Richard Donner and Christopher Reeve made a Superhero film that directors have been chasing for years, depicting who America was then — or at least who we wished to be Superman. It’s now easy to believe a man can fly. It wasn’t in 1978, but today, in midst of an explosion of superhero movies, it’s a belief we give into with relative ease. Flight is most often the bare minimum of what we expect from heroes and villains who can perform any feat limited only by the human imagination. It’s not simply special effects that permit our belief, but rather an overall acceptance that these costume-clad characters are a defining part of our culture, modern myths at their best and populist cinematic staples akin to the 20th century western at their lowest form. There have been a record nine theatrically released superhero movies based on comic books this year alone, each claiming a major piece of the glo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mechanism of a Mosquito Bite (VIDEO)

#itchy #Mosquito #MosquitoBite Unfortunately, enjoying the outdoors also means risking numerous bites from swarms of blood-hungry mosquitoes that seem to target us as soon us we step outside. Have you ever wondered about the science behind the mosquito bite and why those bites leave you itchy?  Check out the following video! 
Post a Comment
Read more