There’s a new track taking over the Internet, a dark horse for song of the summer, and it’s… a country trap remix with Billy Ray Cyrus?!?
To understand exactly wtf is going on you have to rewind a couple weeks.
Video: Miley Cyrus Goes Retro With Disney Channel Hits
It all started when Lil Nas X, a virtually unknown Atlanta artist, released his trap country song Old Town Road.
With lyrics like:
Ridin’ on a horse, ha
You can whip your Porsche
I been in the valley
You ain’t been up off the porch
The song was a perfect marriage of two genres. It really struck a chord with fans of both and became a viral crossover smash. DJs were so desperate to play it, they were pulling a ripped version off YouTube before getting an official copy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ho88VXJTBg
It was a real Cinderella story… That is, until Billboard decided to remove it from the Hot Country Songs chart.
Explaining their controversial decision, the gate keepers — sorry, chart keepers told Rolling Stone:
“Upon further review, it was determined that ‘Old Town Road’ by Lil Nas X does not currently merit inclusion on Billboard‘s country charts. When determining genres, a few factors are examined, but first and foremost is musical composition. 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.”
As you might expect, fans had their suspicions about what exactly it was about the song that was a problem…
A spokesperson for Billboard even went so far as to defend the decision to Genius by declaring:
“Billboard’s decision to take the song off of the country chart had absolutely nothing to do with the race of the artist.”
In any case, Lil Nas X found a way to get the track racing back up the charts — with the help of a country hero. A hero with a mullet.
On Friday Lil Nas X dropped a remix featuring none other than Billy Ray Cyrus.
Miley’s poppa drops bars about buying bling with his country music money:
Baby’s got a habit, diamond rings and Fendi sports bras Ridin’ down Rodeo in my Maserati sports car
…and it just… works.
Ch-ch-check it out for yourself (below)!
On Twitter Lil Nas X said of the experience:
“billy ray came to my studio session last night and gave me one of the most uplifting talks i ever heard in my life. s**t almost brought me to tears like deadass.”
The song is currently rocketing up the charts — whether Billboard wants it or not.
We think this Twitter user said it best:
Billboard to Lil Nas X: I’m This ain’t country! I wanna speak to a manager!
Lil Nas X: Absolutley, lemme go get him for y’all.
Billy Ray Cyrus: pic.twitter.com/ta9Wb9csJZ
— Jared A. Walker (@JAWalker) April 5, 2019
[Image via Lil Nas X/Instagram.]
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