'I want to feel connected to it': Lil Nas admits he wants to give another shot to country music
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Lil Nas X is sharing his experience as a genre-bending artist when he tried country music with the ‘Old Town Road’ song.
Though the hit song was taken down from the Hot Country Songs chart in 2019, it still topped the Billboard Hot 100 for a record-breaking 19 consecutive weeks.
Meanwhile, he also reflected on the recent success of Beyonce and Shaboozey in the same genre.
"I wish this would have happened for me. I wasn't even able to experience this," Lil Nas X told BBC.
Lil Nas X remembered ‘Old Town Road’ song controversy
The song ‘Old Town Road’ was removed from the Hot Country Songs chart as it was claimed that it did "not embrace enough elements of today’s country music to chart in its current form."
The 25-year-old told the outlet that he has continued "trying out some country [sounds] here and there over the last couple of years. I want to feel connected to it and not force it."
When asked whether he will choose to make music that performs well on the charts or resonate with his fans, Lil Nas X said, "I definitely want to replicate" previous successful tracks.
"Not in a copy-and-paste way, but you want to create more big songs that touch the world," he added.
"[Hit] makes you feel like a better person", at the same time he care about "personal songs that are special for my fans," Lil Nas X further shared.
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Inside Beyonce and Shaboozey's success in making genre-bending music
Beyonce recently became the first Black woman to reach the number 1 spot on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart with ‘Texas Hold 'Em.’ It stayed there for 10 weeks before Shaboozey's ‘A Bar Song (Tipsy)’ replaced it.
At the time of controversy over the ‘Old Town Road’ song, Lil Nas X felt "The song is country trap. It’s not one, it’s not the other. It’s both. It should be on both [charts]."
"I believe whenever you’re trying something new, it’s always going to get some kind of bad reception," he told Time back then, pointing that the move was racially charged.
"For example, when rap started, or when rock and roll began. But with country trap, I in no way want to take credit for that. I believe Young Thug would be one of the biggest pioneers in that,” Lil Nas X further said.
