Source: Lil Nas X / Columbia Records
Lil Nas X and his county trap record “Old Town Road” has taken the world by storm. It blew up so much in fact that it managed to make history simultaneously landing on Billboard Hot 100, Hot Country Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts. But Billboard’s decision to remove it from the country chart has fans rallying behind the artist.
Sounds about white.
The move by the entertainment media brand has fans thinking the decision to remove the record from that specific chart was purely based on the fact Lil Nas X is black. The country-trap record managed to reach 19 on the Hot Country Songs list, but that’s as far as it got before it was subsequently removed. In a recent Rolling Stone article, Billboard explained that it told the rapper the song’s inclusion on the list was a “mistake.”
Billboard followed that up with a statement to the Rolling Stone that pretty much didn’t help matters at all and only added more fuel to the fire.
Via Billboard :
“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.”
Riiiiggghhhht.
The song caught fire so fast that radio stations literally had to rip it off of the internet just to play it. On top of landing on Billboard’s charts, the infectious track which features a combination of banjo strings, catchy lyrics, and hard-hitting bass managed to land the top spot on the Global Apple Music chart. The visual that features cut-up clips of Red Dead Redemption 2 has amassed over 14 million views on Youtube and the song has generated over 35 million plays on Spotify.
So with stats like that its to be expected people are crying foul over Billboard’s shady decision. Hit the gallery below to see the responses from artists and fans to Lil Nas X’s song being removed from the country charts below.
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Photo: Lil Nas X / Columbia Records