Old Town Road

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Old Town Road
Lil Nas X
publication December 2, 2018 (original version), April 5, 2019 (remix with Billy Ray Cyrus )
length 1:53 (original version), 2:37 (remix with Billy Ray Cyrus)
Genre (s) Country , trap
Author (s) Lil Nas X , Trent Reznor , Atticus Ross , YoungKio
Producer (s) YoungKio
Label Columbia Records
Award (s) Grammy : Best Pop Duo / Group Performance , Best Music Video
album 7th

Old Town Road is a song of the American Country - singer and rapper Lil Nas X from the year 2018. The commercial debut single of the artist and first single of his debut EP 7 was by himself and YoungKio based on a sample of of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross composed 34 Ghosts IV of the Nine Inch Nails and produced by the latter. Four months after the original release, a remix version appeared , in which the newcomer is supported by popular musician Billy Ray Cyrus .

Music and lyrics

Old Town Road mixes elements of country music with those of the trap genre. A beat consisting of deep 808 - bass drums , rapid hi-hat and artificial claps underlaid doing a catchy melody which mainly by a banjo is played. The original version of the song is divided into two stanzas, each ending in the chorus, and includes a bridge that can be heard at the beginning and at the end of the song. Then the song ends with a fadeout . In the version with Billy Ray Cyrus, he sings an additional third verse and also sings the bridge twice, which can be heard one more time in this variant of the song. Whistles sound differently than in the original during the outro .

In keeping with the music, the text combines common clichés of the country and trap lifestyle . From the former, for example, the consistent focus on the singer's horse , as well as the mention of cowboy hats , rodeos , bull riding and tractors . The stylistic devices of the other scene include the fashion drug Lean , a promiscuous libido , the fashion label Gucci and the general arrogant attitude. Billy Ray Cyrus also joins this theme in his verse by showing off a swanky, lavish way of life with borrowings from the common country stereotypes.

Music video

No classical music video was initially shot for Old Town Road , but a so-called visualizer was created , which was uploaded to Lil Nas X's official YouTube channel in early December . This shows scenes from the game Red Dead Redemption 2 , in which several cowboys sit around a campfire, fire their guns (some at people) or ride through various environments . Also fights , animals and landscapes are seen.

On May 7, 2019 then to Billy Ray Cyrus version as a Animoji designated video clip released, which only consists of a sequence of matching the text emoji , said the heads of the two singers are animated.

Ten days later, a full-fledged live action music video for the remix of the song, which was dubbed the Official Movie , was released for the first time under the direction of Calmatic . In it, Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus play two bandits in 1889. First, the two of them, carrying a large sack of money, ride away from a group of men on the eponymous Old Town Road. Suddenly they stop, whereupon the two protagonists escape. One of the persecutors asks his leader why he let her go. He replies that you have to let a black man go so fast on the horse. The two robbers arrive with their prey at a remote house , in front of which they rest. Shortly afterwards, the owner of the same appears and starts shooting the men with a rifle . During the escape, they are initially separated when Lil Nas X climbs through a hole in the floor. At the other end, however, he suddenly finds himself in 2019, where he falls from the sky. Old Town Road has become a typical American suburb. The bandit, wrapped in eye-catching cowboy outfit, rides slowly through the city on his horse, which is now also in the present , and is at first gazed at in disbelief and skepticism by the residents. However, he soon succeeds in establishing friendly contact with his new environment when he dismounts and begins to dance, whereupon a young woman does the same. Immediately afterwards a race begins in which Lil Nas X competes on his horse against a driver and wins. With the money he has won, he buys a new costume, which is still western style, but looks more luxurious. As he leaves the shop, Billy Ray Cyrus suddenly appears, who must have suffered something similar, because he is also wearing fancy clothes and driving a car . He also has the prey with him. The two friends enter a room in which several people, who are also wearing cowboy hats , are playing bingo . After nodding at each other for a brief moment, the two protagonists play and sing the background music for the event in the next shot. This clearly lifts the mood of the event, so that everyone present begins to dance. At the end, the musicians pose for photos with the townspeople . The music only starts in the video after about 2 minutes when Lil Nas X arrives in the present. In between, she is repeatedly interrupted for a few seconds to move the action forward. Several cameos can be seen in the course of the clip ; so diving Chris Rock , Vince Staples , YoungKio, Rico Nasty , Diplo and Haha Davis in selbigem on.

success

Old Town Road was a huge commercial success in several countries. Four months after its first release, Lil Nas X made it to the top of the charts with his debut single in the US in April 2019, initially in the original version. The version with Billy Ray Cyrus helped the song subsequently to more international popularity. In the United Kingdom , Canada , New Zealand , the Netherlands , Norway and Ireland , the song was also placed at the top of the respective charts either in the remix or in the original variant. In Germany , Austria and Switzerland , the song reached number one in the single charts one month after entering the charts. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 US charts for a total of 19 weeks , which was a new record. Old Town Road sold over 18.4 million copies worldwide and was the second best-selling single of 2019 after Billie Eilish's Bad Guy .

Billboard controversy

After the song made it to number 19 in the US country charts, Billboard magazine, which is responsible for evaluating the American charts, decided that Old Town Road did not meet the requirements for a country song and therefore did not would not be suitable for the corresponding charts. One week after the ban, the track would have ended up in first place on the list if it had met the criteria. The decision sparked a controversial debate that accused Billboard of pegging Lil Nas X into a particular musical box because of the color of his skin . The magazine denied this.

Billy Ray Cyrus , a recognized country musician by trade, recorded his duet version with Lil Nas X to take a stand to recognize Old Town Road as a country song.

Producer YoungKio said that the country elements were brought about solely by the contribution of the artist, that his beat was originally attributed to the genres trap and rock .

Chart placements

Chart placements
Charts Top ranking Weeks
Chart placements
Germany (GfK) Germany (GfK) 1 (53 weeks) 53
Austria (Ö3) Austria (Ö3) 1 (56 weeks) 56
Switzerland (IFPI) Switzerland (IFPI) 1 (70 weeks) 70
United Kingdom (OCC) United Kingdom (OCC) 1 (47 weeks) 47
United States (Billboard) United States (Billboard) 1 (45 weeks) 45
Annual charts
Charts (2019) placement
Annual charts (2019)
Germany (GfK) Germany (GfK) 1
Austria (Ö3) Austria (Ö3) 3
Switzerland (IFPI) Switzerland (IFPI) 2
United Kingdom (OCC) United Kingdom (OCC) 2
United States (Billboard) United States (Billboard) 1

Awards for music sales

Country / Region Award Sales
Awards for music sales
(country / region, Award, Sales)
Australia (ARIA) Australia (ARIA) Platinum record icon.svg 10 × platinum 700,000
Belgium (BEA) Belgium (BEA) Platinum record icon.svg 3 × platinum 120,000
Denmark (IFPI) Denmark (IFPI) Gold record icon.svg gold 45,000
Germany (BVMI) Germany (BVMI) Platinum record icon.svg platinum 400,000
France (SNEP) France (SNEP) Diamond record icon.svg diamond 333,333
Italy (FIMI) Italy (FIMI) Platinum record icon.svg 3 × platinum 150,000
Mexico (AMPROFON) Mexico (AMPROFON) Gold record icon.svg 5 × gold 150,000
New Zealand (RMNZ) New Zealand (RMNZ) Platinum record icon.svg 4 × platinum 120,000
Austria (IFPI) Austria (IFPI) Platinum record icon.svg 2 × platinum 60,000
Poland (ZPAV) Poland (ZPAV) Platinum record icon.svg 3 × platinum 60,000
Portugal (AFP) Portugal (AFP) Platinum record icon.svg 2 × platinum 20,000
Sweden (IFPI) Sweden (IFPI) Platinum record icon.svg 2 × platinum 80,000
Spain (Promusicae) Spain (Promusicae) Gold record icon.svg gold 20,000
United States (RIAA) United States (RIAA) Diamond record icon.svg diamond 10,000,000
United Kingdom (BPI) United Kingdom (BPI) Platinum record icon.svg 3 × platinum 1,800,000
All in all Gold record icon.svg7 × gold
Platinum record icon.svg32 × platinum
Diamond record icon.svg2 × diamond
14,058,333

Individual evidence

  1. Credits and release date. Accessed April 10, 2019 .
  2. Samples. Accessed April 10, 2019 .
  3. Credits and release date. Accessed April 10, 2019 .
  4. Lyrics with information. Accessed April 10, 2019 .
  5. Lyrics with information (remix). Accessed April 10, 2019 .
  6. Visualizer. Accessed April 10, 2019 .
  7. Animoji. Retrieved May 8, 2019 .
  8. music video. Retrieved June 10, 2019 .
  9. List of cameos. Retrieved June 10, 2019 .
  10. US charts. Accessed April 10, 2019 .
  11. UK charts. Retrieved April 21, 2019 .
  12. Canadian Charts. Retrieved April 16, 2019 .
  13. Norwegian charts. Retrieved April 16, 2019 (Norwegian).
  14. Irish charts. Retrieved April 16, 2019 .
  15. New Zealand Charts. Retrieved April 16, 2019 .
  16. Charts. Retrieved April 10, 2019 .
  17. Trevor Anderson, Gary Trust: Winner's Circle: Lil Nas X's 'Old Town Road' Breaks Record With 17th Week Atop Billboard Hot 100. In: Billboard. July 29, 2019, accessed on July 29, 2019 .
  18. bad guy by Billie Eilish Named Biggest Global Single of 2019. ifpi.org, March 10, 2020, accessed on March 11, 2020 .
  19. ^ The Guardian article. Accessed April 10, 2019 .
  20. Country Charts. Accessed April 10, 2019 .
  21. ^ CNN article. Accessed April 10, 2019 .
  22. Variety Article. Accessed April 10, 2019 .
  23. Genius Article. Accessed April 10, 2019 .
  24. Old Town Road in the German charts
  25. Old Town Road in the Austrian charts
  26. Old Town Road in the Swiss charts
  27. Old Town Road in the British charts
  28. Old Town Road in the US charts
  29. a b c d e 2019 annual charts: DE AT CH UK US
  30. Award in Australia
  31. ^ Award in Belgium
  32. ^ Award in Denmark
  33. Award in Germany
  34. ^ Award in France
  35. Award in Italy
  36. amprofon.com.mx
  37. Award in New Zealand
  38. IFPI Austria gold and platinum database. International Federation of the Phonographic Industry , accessed October 25, 2019 .
  39. Award in Poland
  40. Award in Portugal
  41. Award in Sweden
  42. Award in Spain
  43. ↑ Distinction in the United States
  44. Award in the United Kingdom