According to the charts, country music is not a genre popular among teenagers. Recently, however, people have been listening to Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road.” The song is considered to be a very interesting and creative fusion of hip-hop and country.

The song was released December 3, 2018, but started to gain popularity in early 2019 through memes. In fact, the song reached top 20 in the Billboard Hot 100 and on the Hot Country Songs chart. “Old Town Road” was later removed from the charts as it was not considered to be a real country or country enough to many people.

When the song was released, Lil Nas X placed the song under country on iTunes and SoundCloud because it was easier to manipulate the charts and outweigh the competition with songs on the hip-hop. Anaheim High School students, Angie Vega, and Ali Alfatlawi have both said they “consider the song to be country.”

Country singer, Billy Ray Cyrus, has been very outspoken about the song being removed off country charts saying Lil Nas X must be doing something “great [because] only the outlaws are outlawed!” Billy Ray Cyrus has shown his support for the song being country so much so he even collaborated with rapper Lil Nas X in hopes of making the song “even more country,” so it can be played on country radio stations and placed on country charts.

The remix of “Old Town Road” was released April 4, 2019, and brought the song even more popularity. Miley Cyrus, Tish Cyrus, and Noah Cyrus have been promoting the song everywhere, drawing a bigger audience to this relatively “new” genre of music.

Nevertheless, the song reached charts because of the popular memes that Lil Nas X started once his song came out. The song then went viral on Tik Tok as people were dressing up in cowboy attire and playing the song. The song proceeded to become popular on Instagram through the creation of new yeehaw memes. The song continues to blow up with the recently released remix. Lil Nas X has signed a record deal with Columbia Records and fans are excited to see what the artist will release in the future.