Billy Ray Cyrus, Lil Nas X Team Up On ‘Old Town Road’ to Outmaneuver the Billboard Country Charts

“Old Town Road” was kicked off Billboard Country charts for not embracing “enough elements of today’s country music to chart in its current version.”

Lil Nas X
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Rapper Lil Nas X brought Billy Ray Cyrus for a country remix of his viral single “Old Town Road” after the original was booted from the Billboard Country charts for what it said was the song’s “not embracing enough elements of today’s country music to chart in its current version.”

Fans of the original song, which is currently No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, quickly voiced their displeasure of the song’s removal last week. Rapper Ski Mask the Slump God tweeted that the move was “discrimination at its finest.”

“Old Town Road” was first released in December 2018 and quickly gained popularity on the short-form video platform TikTok. The song debuted on both the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop and Country charts.

However, the song would be removed from the country charts.”Upon further review, it was determined that ‘Old Town Road’ by Lil Nas X does not currently merit inclusion on Billboard’s country charts,” Billboard said in a statement.

On Wednesday, Cyrus tweeted his support of rapper and the song.

“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!” Cyrus tweeted.

Shortly after his tweet, the duo swiftly joined forces for a remix of the song, which is similar to the original track, except with the inclusion of Cyrus’ vocals on the intro and end of the chorus. It was released on Friday at midnight.

While fans of the original seem to like the new version, they’re also speaking out about a white artist needing to vouch for the rapper.

“Nelly and Tim McGraw walked so lil nas X and billy Ray Cyrus could run.” one Twitter user wrote.

“Black people supporting the hell out of Old Town Road just to spite Billboard.” another user wrote.

Check out more reactions below:

https://twitter.com/fakemikemulloy/status/1114193812480376832?s=20

 

 

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