Old Town Road Remix !!HOT!!
"Old Town Road" is the debut mainstream single by American rapper Lil Nas X, first released independently in December 2018. After gaining popularity, the single was re-released by Columbia Records in March 2019. Lil Nas X also recorded a remix with American country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, which was released on April 5, 2019. Both were included in Lil Nas X's second EP, 7 (2019).
Old Town Road Remix
The song initially gained popularity on the social video sharing app TikTok and eventually entered the Billboard charts in March 2019.[3] The song reached number 19 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart before the magazine disqualified it from the chart on the grounds that it did not fit the genre, sparking a debate on the definition of country music. Though it was not re-entered onto the overall country charts, both versions of the song collectively peaked at number one on the general Billboard Hot 100, for a record-breaking nineteen consecutive weeks and the remix peaked at #50 on Billboard's Country Airplay chart. One or more versions of "Old Town Road" have topped the national singles charts in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, and have charted in the top 10 in various other markets.
The song was certified diamond by the RIAA in October 2019 for selling ten million total units in the United States, the fastest song to be certified diamond.[4] At the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, the remix featuring Billy Ray Cyrus was nominated for Record of the Year and won Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and Best Music Video. In October 2019, Nas X's label Columbia Records/Sony Music Entertainment, won the Music & Sound Recordings Award from SAG-AFTRA "for work that exemplifies equal access" of LGBTQ and "other misrepresented or underrepresented groups."[5]In September 2021, the song set the record as the second highest certified song ever by the RIAA with 16-times platinum status in the United States, meaning it accumulated 16 million equivalent song units.[6] It has sold over 18 million records worldwide,[7] making it one of the best-selling singles of all time.[8] Rolling Stone named it the 490th greatest song of all time in its 2021 list.[9]
In 2018, Lil Nas X dropped out of college to pursue a music career even though he was discouraged by his parents. He moved in with his sister, spending time promoting his music on the Internet while having just three hours of sleep each night. Lil Nas X found the beat for "Old Town Road" in October 2018 and began writing after his sister told him he had to move out soon.[14] Lil Nas X felt like he was "out of options" and said that his sister's and parents' frustrations with him inspired the song's chorus, "can't nobody tell me nothing". Within a month of writing it, Lil Nas X chose to alter the song's meaning so that the "old town road" would be a symbol of success.[12] Lil Nas X recorded the song on December 2, 2018,[14] at the CinCoYo Recording Studio in Atlanta,[15] and released it the same day on SoundCloud under the title "Old Town Road (I Got the Horses in the Back)".[14][16] The Dutch record producer YoungKio produced the beat a year before the song's release and uploaded it to his online store for selling beats. He sampled Nine Inch Nails' track "34 Ghosts IV", modifying it with studio techniques so that it sounded like an old field recording, then reordering sections in an effort to make the austere original more catchy.[17] He had never heard of Nine Inch Nails before stumbling upon "34 Ghosts IV".[10] Lil Nas X bought the beat from YoungKio for $30,[10] but since purchases on his online store were anonymous, YoungKio did not know the song was purchased by Lil Nas X until he saw it in an Instagram meme in December 2018.[18] Trent Reznor later said that, shortly after the song began gaining traction, he received a call from Lil Nas X's manager about the sample, asking for clearance to use it, which he granted. He described the song as "undeniably hooky".[19]
On December 4, 2018, a day after the original version's release, Lil Nas X tweeted that he wanted Cyrus on the song.[20] Lil Nas X knew of Cyrus because of his role on the Disney Channel television series Hannah Montana.[21] The country singer Jake Owen was originally approached to co-write and record the first remix of "Old Town Road".[22] The Columbia Records executive, Ron Perry, reached out to Cyrus' wife Tish Cyrus saying that he would love it if Cyrus were to hear "Old Town Road". Cyrus first heard the song over coffee on March 16, 2019, when Tish played it to him.[23] Cyrus explained that he loved the original song the first time he heard it.[24] Cyrus also mentioned that he related to the song the first time he heard it, connecting the "old town road" to the Old Town Bridge in Argillite, Kentucky, that he used to play on as a child.[25] In response to Billboard removing "Old Town Road" from the Hot Country Songs chart, Cyrus tweeted his support for Lil Nas X and noted that the removal put him in the ranks of great outlaws.[26]
The first official remix of "Old Town Road", featuring the American country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, was released on April 5, 2019, by Columbia Records. The remix was recorded in support of "Old Town Road" being recognized as a country song.[43] A limited edition 7-inch vinyl single was made available for purchase on May 1, 2019, with the remix on the A-side and the original on the B-side.[44] The remix was eventually included with the original on Lil Nas X's second EP, 7. The music video for the remix was released on May 17, 2019. It was directed by Calmatic, and has guest appearances by Chris Rock, HaHa Davis, Rico Nasty, Diplo, Jozzy, Young Kio and Vince Staples.[45][46]
On January 26, 2020, Lil Nas X performed "Old Town Road" at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards with Diplo, BTS, Mason Ramsey and Billy Ray Cyrus, before finishing his performance with the remix of "Rodeo" along with Nas.
In the United States, the original version of "Old Town Road" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the week ending April 13, 2019;[60] at one minute and 53 seconds in length, it became the shortest number-one single since "I'm Henry VIII, I Am" by Herman's Hermits in 1965 and the fifth-shortest in the history of the chart.[61] In the following week, it and the newly released remix featuring Billy Ray Cyrus received a combined 143 million streams, surpassing Drake's "In My Feelings", which in the previous year had amassed 116.2 million in the same period, as the song with the highest single-week streaming figure in the country.[62] This song also became Cyrus's biggest hit in the U.S. since "Achy Breaky Heart" peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 27 years ago.[63] "Old Town Road" continued to exceed 100 million streams in each of the eight following weeks, and in June 2019, was responsible for the three highest weekly U.S. streaming totals in the history of digital music, as well as nine of the eleven highest overall.[64][65] In October 2019, "Old Town Road" became the fastest single in RIAA history to receive diamond certification in the United States. The certification, which is awarded to singles that attain national combined sales and streams of ten million units, was achieved by the song in its eleventh month of release.[66][67] The single had sold 1.6 million digital copies in the United States by February 2020.[68]
The single's second official remix, "Old Town Road (Diplo Remix)", was released on April 29, 2019, with additional production by the American DJ Diplo. The country music website, The Boot, described it as a "remix of [a] remix" as it still retained vocals from Billy Ray Cyrus.[242] The remix was premiered at Diplo's set for the country music Stagecoach Festival alongside the first-ever live performance of "Old Town Road" by Lil Nas X and Cyrus.[243] Just before Lil Nas X and Cyrus' surprise on-stage appearance at Stagecoach 2019, Diplo claimed. "Let me tell you, ["Old Town Road" is] a country song."[242] The Diplo remix peaked at number 24 on the RMNZ New Zealand Hot Singles chart.[244] The remix is included on Diplo's second studio album, Diplo Presents Thomas Wesley, Chapter 1: Snake Oil (2020).[245]
A third official remix, titled "Old Town Road (Remix)", was released on July 12, 2019. It retains Cyrus' guest appearance and adds the American rapper Young Thug and the American singer Mason Ramsey. The remix was released in an effort to keep "Old Town Road" at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, as the song was two weeks away from tying for the all-time Hot 100 record held by "One Sweet Day" by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men and "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee; it has since broken that record.[246][247][248] In an interview with Billboard in March 2019, the producer YoungKio said that he would want Young Thug for a remix of "Old Town Road", saying, "I've listened to every single song of his, and I think he's qualified to do this remix. I've listened to Beautiful Thugger Girls, and he has some country vibes on there."[18] Young Thug has been previously credited with bringing country trap into the mainstream with his experimental mixtape, Beautiful Thugger Girls (2017).[11] Lil Nas X called him a pioneer of bridging the gap between country and trap.[12]
The single's fourth official remix, "Old Town Road (Seoul Town Road Remix)", featuring the South Korean rapper RM of BTS was released on July 24, 2019. It is the only official remix to not feature Cyrus. Lil Nas X announced shortly afterwards that "Seoul Town Road" would be the final remix.[249] It reached number eight on the RMNZ New Zealand Hot Singles chart.[250]
The American country singer Jake Owen and the American rapper Lil Wayne both recorded verses for planned remixes that were unofficially released. Owen's remix was shared on The Bobby Bones Show in May 2019 and his verse was later replaced by Ramsey.[22][251] Lil Wayne's remix was leaked on July 25, 2019, and he performed it live at Lollapalooza the next month.[252] The American rapper Cupcakke released her leaked remix of "Old Town Road", titled "Old Town Hoe", on April 17, 2019. The remix reinterprets the lyric "I'm gonna ride 'til I can't no more" in a sexually explicit way.[253] A music video was released in May 2019 and has Cupcakke and her backup dancers riding toy horses and handling phallic objects, including lollipops, water bottles and corn on the cob.[254] Lil Nas X responded favorably to the remix.[255] 041b061a72