Country music’s “Old Town Road” controversy could be just the shake up the industry needs.

Hip Hop Outlaw Country is here to challenge Bro Country for the throne.

There’s an unfolding cultural controversy in country music, which might finally force the industry to reckon with some of it’s long held biases.

“Old Town Road” is a viral sensation by 19–year-old Tik Tok user, Lil Nas X. The song rose to prominence as a viral meme (see below), before hitting the Billboard charts and taking off as a hip-hop/country crossover.

The song peaked at number 19 on the country music charts before Billboard made the decision to pull it, telling Rolling Stone that:

“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, as if to dare the country music industry to defy him, Lil Nas X released a new version of the song, with classic country star Billy Ray Cyrus performing the remix. The remix has skyrocketed to #1 on the streaming charts over the weekend, for all genres.

I was raised in Nashville, and live here now. I often joke that I think I know every word to every country song that’s ever been written. I grew up going to honky tonks, country concerts, the Grand Ole Opry, and Opryland USA, the amazing little theme park that was next to the Grand Ole Opry (which was closed and razed for a shopping mall in 1997, marking the first major loss of my childhood). I’ve spent most of my life saturated in country music — it has been the soundtrack of my days.

I‘m here to argue that this song embraces plenty of the “elements of today’s country music,” and absolutely warrants inclusion on the country music charts.

Let’s start with the lyrics to “Old Town Road.” The lyrics have every major theme of traditional Outlaw Country music… Old roads? check. A horse you’re going to run away on? check. The overwhelming regret of a man who can’t outride his cowboy personality? check. These could easily be lyrics to a modern Garth Brooks or George Strait song.

Yeah, I’m gonna take my horse to the old town road
I’m gonna ride ’til I can’t no more
I’m gonna take my horse to the old town road
I’m gonna ride ’til I can’t no more (Kio, Kio)

I got the horses in the back
Horse tack is attached
Hat is matte black
Got the boots that’s black to match
Ridin’ on a horse, ha
You can whip your Porsche
I been in the valley
You ain’t been up off the porch, now

Can’t nobody tell me nothin’
You can’t tell me nothin’
Can’t nobody tell me nothin’
You can’t tell me nothin’

Ridin’ on a tractor
Lean all in my bladder
Cheated on my baby
You can go and ask her
My life is a movie
Bull ridin’ and boobies
Cowboy hat from Gucci
Wrangler on my booty

Can’t nobody tell me nothin’
You can’t tell me nothin’
Can’t nobody tell me nothin’
You can’t tell me nothin’

Yeah, I’m gonna take my horse to the old town road
I’m gonna ride ’til I can’t no more
I’m gonna take my horse to the old town road
I’m gonna ride ’til I can’t no more

Let’s be real — these lyrics fit a long tradition of Outlaw Country, and harken back to days when it was actually played on the radio.

Maybe it’s the hip hop infusion that makes the song “not country enough”? Walk through the various Honky Tonks in Nashville, and you will hear an increasing amount of hip hop influence in these legendary live shows, particularly since Nelly and Florida Georgia Line teamed up for the country/hip hop crossover megahit “Cruise” in 2013. The popular country megastar Sam Hunt often features “hip hop infused” lyrics on chart-topping tracks, and his song “Body Like A Back Road” is the longest running #1 on the Billboard country charts as of 2017. The song it beat? “Cruise,” of course. Clearly, hip-hop/country crossovers have hit the right chords with listeners; surely, the country music industry executives know this.

So, if the reason for “Old Town’s Road’s” exclusion on country radio is not lyrical, or stylistic, why is it being shut out of the country charts? The answer is simple — the song did not originate from the Nashville machine. Lil Nas X came out of nowhere. He didn’t even have a record deal until after the song was pulled (he has since signed with Columbia Records). The song threatens the formulaic dominance of the “bro country” formula so often found on modern country radio.

You should watch this video to get an accurate picture of the problem:

“Bro country,” has taken a deeply meaningful genre and made it a mockery. The industry has taken white male voices and repackaged the same musical formula over and over. They use the same key signatures, tempos, lyrical styling around beer, trucks, and driving down backroads with a hot girl. This formula is tired, and it doesn’t give opportunities for outside voices. There is a long documented controversy over the lack of women on country radio, and a recent study indicates that only 16% of the top 500 charting songs have a female voice. The industry has a similar problem with racial representation.

It’s also worth noting that the white men that sing these songs, names like Luke Bryan, Florida Georgia Line, Dierks Bentley, and Blake Shelton, have all purchased up and commercialized the older honkey tonks that once ruled Broadway*. They control the experience that millions of tourists have when they visit Nashville each year. Bro country is serious business, with incredible clout to shape the trends of what defines “today’s country music.” That’s a lot of power to weild against a defiant newcomer that came out of nowhere.

The country music industry has a choice. It can continue to produce the same 10 songs ad nauseam, or it can allow itself to grow into creative places. The industry should welcome new takes on the genre. Lord knows, it’s all getting old.

There is one thing I am certain of — “Old Town Road” will become a Honky Tonking classic, whether the charts recognize it or not. I already hear it bumping out of all the Pedal Taverns around town.

___________________________________________________________

*This author recommends Blake Shelton’s Ole Red as the best experience of these, but Roberts for the best honky tonking on Nashville.