If you doubt that hip-hop has permeated virtually all of American music, look no further than the controversy over “Old Town Road.” The song started as a viral video in December and reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 within three months. But the controversy hit when Billboard ruled the song ineligible for its Country chart, where it had debuted at No. 19.
According to 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.”
So Lil Nas X embraced a country element in the form of Billy Ray Cyrus. Either version is catchy enough to earn DL’s Earworm Alert.