๐พ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ ๐ฝ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐พ๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ ๐ท๐ถ๐ธ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ข ๐ฑ๐๐ ๐จ ๐ฆ๐ฐ ๐๐ฑ๐ฑ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ก At this point, youโve probably heard these lyrics before. They come from Lil Nas Xโs recent hit, โOld Country Road,โย which his producer, Yungkio, describes as a โcountry trapโ song. Released in December of 2018, the track gained popularity through the #yeehaw challenge on the popular app TikTok, in which participants would transform themselves into cowboys as the song plays in the background. After the challenge went viral, the song took off, and eventually found itself as the No. 19 single on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.ย Instagram: @lilnasx That is, until, Billboard removed Lil Nas Xโs song from the charts completely, claiming the song was โnot embracing enough elements of todayโs country music.” A strange accusation to claim while, just last year, Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Lineโs country-EDM hybrid, Meant To Be, ruled the country charts. With that in mind, wouldnโt โOld Country Roadโ just be another product of this fresh new ย approach to country music? Why was Lil Nas Xโs song actually removed? In a recent interview with Times Magazine, Lil Nas X spoke on the controversial issue of his songโs unjustified removal by stating, โThe song is country trap. It’s not one, it’s not the other. It’s both. It should be on both.โ He continues by adding, “I believe whenever youโre trying something new, it’s always going to get some kind of bad reception,โ when asked if he believed if there was a racially motivated reason for the songโs removal.ย When the song was initially released, Lil Nas X tweeted, โjust because old town road has funny lines doesnโt mean itโs parody. it has a theme. anybody with ears can tell i put some kind of effort into that song.โ Lil Nas X gained support from his fans, along with other musicians. Fellow rapper Ski Mask tha Slump God called Billboardโs action โdiscrimination at itโs finest,โ while country singer Meghan Linsey said, โThat is some BS. Itโs got plenty of ‘country elements’ and its as ‘country’ as anything on country radio, tbh.โ What was the real reason Lil Nas Xโs song was no longer considered โcountryโ enough for country? I mean, with just one listen, it’s clear that the song has a clear country vibe to it; so what was the real issue? Shane Morris, a former country music label employee who once worked for the largest music label in Nashville, composed a Twitter thread to add his insight on the whole situation.ย In it, Morris states that โOld Country Roadโ was removed because โthe [mainstream] terrestrial country music market is filled to a surfeit with racism and bigotry.โ Morris brings up the point that โGIRLโ by Maren Morris and โGolden Hourโ by Kacey Musgraves are both pop-leaning songs, yet they still found a spot on the country Billboard chart. Morris then speaks upon the present racism in Nashvilleโs country music scene and the dominance of whiteness in the industry of country music as a whole and comments upon, โwhat they want country music to sound like, and more importantly… LOOK like.โ Instagram: @lilnasx Unfortunately, the whiteness of the country music genre doesnโt come as a shocker to many; however, itโs a complacency that we should no longer allow. Country music has Black roots: it’s a fact. Author Pamela Foster writes in her book My Country: The African Diaspora’s Country Music Heritage that, โIn the antebellum South, banjos, fiddles, and harmonicas were the dominant instruments played in black culture. Unfortunately, history has distorted these facts to make people believe jazz, blues and spirituals were the staples of black culture at that time when, in fact, it was country.โ Why is it that the country music industry excludes the very same group of people that they originate their sound from? Former country singer Cleve Francis states that “Black artists feel like they have been left out of a whole industry for no reason other than color. Country music has mirrored the racial divide in this country. Other forms, such as pop and opera, have integrated but . . . blacks have never been welcome in Nashville.” Morris reminds us in his Twitter thread that in the history of country music, only four Black men have ever topped Billboard’s Country charts, and now, with โOld Country Roadโ being taken off the charts, thatโs 25% of black men removed. Not a good statistic. The removal of Lil Nas Xโs song from the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart is unjustified, and an obviously racialized issue that reveals the overt racism present in the genre of country music. With that I say: To Billboard: reconsider Lil Nas Xโs placement. To Black artists: produce more country music. Letโs boil the blood of racist YTS. To Everyone: support Black country musicians. Article by Sunny Sanghaย Share this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Currently you have JavaScript disabled. In order to post comments, please make sure JavaScript and Cookies are enabled, and reload the page. Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser. Δ