Old Town Road – Remix

“Old Town Road – Remix” is currently making its way through the global chart with it’s unique mix of both country and trap music. The original track (“Old Town Road”) by rapper Lil Nas X (real name Montero Lamar Hill), was released in December 2018, and caused huge levels of controversy due to it not being deemed a proper form of country music, with the track being removed from the Billboard US Hot Country Songs after some complaints. This led Billy Ray Cyrus to tweet his support for Lil Nas X, stating: “Been watching everything going on with OTR. When I got thrown off the charts, Waylon Jennings said to me ‘Take this as a compliment’ means you’re doing something great! Only Outlaws are outlawed. Welcome to the club!”

Lil Nas X spoke about his thoughts on the track and it’s controversy to music website “GENIUS”. When asked about how he reacted to Billboard removing it off the country charts, this is what Lil Nas X had to say:

“I have a few country songs. I’m not going to lie and say I’m this huge country fan, but I respect the genre, because I respect every genre of music.
At first, I thought, “I’m just going to rap,” but then later on down the line, literally probably two, three songs before “Old Town Road,” it’s like, “I’m going to do what I want to do. I’m going to make the music I want to make, and if people like it, then they like it. If they don’t, then they don’t.” Before it was even taken off the country charts, I was just happy to be on Billboard at all. Even after they did take it off, I was like, “Okay, at least I’m still on Billboard.” Then, I started to think about, I was like, “Why?” After listening to other songs that’s actually on that chart, it’s like, “Wait a minute, something’s not right, basically.” Then it felt amazing to get support from country stars because it’s like this is their lane. It’s like you’re getting respect from people who’ve been doing this for some time. This is my first time dabbling into anything country influenced.”

A day after the release of the original track, Lil Nas X tweeted that he wanted American country star Billy Ray Cyrus on the track too, leading to the remix of the track. The remix surpassed Cyrus’ classic song “Achy Breaky Heart” when “Old Town Road – Remix” hit #1 on the Billboard, as “Achy Break Heart” had peaked at #4 in 1992, making the Old Town Road remix Cyrus’ highest-charting song to date.

There is currently no official music video for the track, but there are fan made versions. The official audio video for the remix went live on Lil Nas X’s YouTube channel on the 4th April 2019, with over 2.3 million likes and well over 133 million views as of May 2019.

Release Date: 5th April 2019

Songwriter/s: Jo’zzy, Atticus Ross, Trent Rezor, Billy Ray Cyrus & Lil Nas X

Producer/s: YoungKio, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross

Label: Columbia Records

Chart Rankings: “Old Town Road – Remix” hit #1 in the US Billboard Hot 100 Charts, as well as making it’s way to #1 to Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands and New Zealand.