“Chuck Berry made it, but the credit went to Elvis.” – Lecrae
At the moment, Old Town Road is arguably the most popular song in the world sitting at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. Lil Nas X is a 20 year-old Atlanta-based rapper who wrote this genre-defying track that includes a heavy trap beat most often found in hip hop, along with the banjos and rural imagery typically found in country songs. Since its release in December 2018, this song has quickly gone viral on the social media platform TikTok, been streamed over 110 million times on Spotify, and caused claims of racism when Billboard quietly removed it from the Country Charts a few weeks ago.
Most recently, a remix of Old Town Road featuring Billy Ray Cyrus has been released and now fans are faced with a choice about which version to consume. This remix of Old Town Road minimizes the artistic contribution of Lil Nas X and shifts the power back to large music companies who value profit over combatting established systems of racism. By introducing a new remix, the record industry is asking fans to be complicit to an age-old marketing strategy where white artists are inserted in between black artists and the music audience.
Many fans may be unaware of the history of racism within popular music. Rapper Lecrae summarizes the problem with the lyric: “Chuck Berry made it, but the credit went to Elvis.” During the 1940’s, Billboard published a chart segregated by race called the Race Records Chart. In 1949, Billboard changed the name of this chart to R & B, though it’s function of separating music by race didn’t change. A song would typically appear first on the R & B charts and if it was a hit, then recorded by a white artist for the pop charts. The song Hound Dog is an excellent example of this pattern, having originally been recorded by Big Mama Thornton in 1952. Elvis recorded his version in 1956 and it became a worldwide hit. Today, most music fans would associate Elvis with the song rather than Big Mama Thornton.
While we have come a long way from having a “Race Records Chart”, systems and patterns of racism continue. The song Despacito is a recent example. Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee released this song in Latin America where it became very popular. After it’s initial success, a remix of Despacito featuring Justin Bieber was released and became an even bigger worldwide hit. Unfortunately, there are many fans who assume Despacito’s success is either due to Justin Bieber or simply have forgotten that it is a remix.
There is no simple answer to ensuring that artists are properly recognized for their work. Lil Nas X wrote a unique song that became a hit and found himself being courted by multinational record companies promising him fame and riches. In March 2019, he signed with Columbia Records and now there is a large team of people working to make Old Town Road the biggest and most profitable song of the summer. In the short-term, Lil Nas X will become rich and famous. Only time will tell whether Lil Nas X’s artistic work is being appropriated in such a way that he will soon be forgotten by music fans.
Small signs are already appearing that Old Town Road is slowly becoming a song that is more associated to Billy Ray Cyrus than Lil Nas X. Just this week (April 20th, 2019), the remixed version replaced the original version at #1 on the Billboard charts. What is more, the original version no longer appears anywhere on the charts and new listeners are led to believe that Billy Ray Cyrus’s contribution to this song was always intended.
Music fans have the responsibility and the capacity to identify and refuse to be complicit to systematic racism found within the music industries. In the case of Old Town Road, learning the history of the song helps separate the truth from various narratives being shaped by the media, publicists and record companies. Identifying strategies that music companies use to market music help fans identify whether a remix is worthy of their attention. Finally, understanding and appreciating the artistry of Lil Nas X ensures that he remains a valued worker within the creative industries and is not forgotten. The world shouldn’t have a song in future with the lyric: “Lil Nas X made it, but the credit went to Billy Ray.”
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7qovpFAGrQ]