Old Town Road

Chris Molanphy is a columnist for Slate and the host of the Hit Parade podcast. He has written for publications including Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, New York Magazine, NPR Music, the Village Voice, and others. He is author of Kurt Cobain: Voice of a Generation.

Introduction. BONAFIDE 'til I Can't No More: "Old Town Road" as the Endpoint of a Century of Genre and Chat Evolution 1 1. WIDE-EYED 'til I Can't No More: The Maker of "Old Town Road" and the Elements of Its Creation 7 2. HIED 'til I Can't No More: A Brief History of Country and Race 17 3. FLY 'til I Can't No More: The Collision and Cross-Pollination of Rap and Country 29 4. REIFIED 'til I Can't No More: What a No. 1 Hit Meant as the Hot 100 Evolved 41 5. DIVIDE 'til I Can't No More: Genre Charts, Data, and Identity 51 6. WORLD WIDE 'til I Can't No More: How Technology and Internet Culture Built "Old Town Road" 69 7. BESTRIDE 'til I Can't No More: How Lil Nas X Dominated 2019 87 Epilogue. PRIDE 'til I Can't No More: How Lil Nas X Became a Multihit Wonder 121 Acknowledgments 127 Bibliography 129 Index 133

"I never fully understood, appreciated, or contextualized popular music until I read Chris Molanphy." - Jesse Eisenberg "Chris Molanphy provides a (typical for him) master class in understanding 'Old Town Road' as well as the interaction between race, the charts, and country music. A fascinating, rigorous, and joyful book." - Emily J. Lordi, author of (The Meaning of Soul: Black Music and Resilience since the 1960s) "More than just an analysis of 'Old Town Road.' This book has wide appeal for music and pop culture fans." (Starred Review) - Rebekah J. Buchanan (Library Journal) "Molanphy's astute analysis shows readers the full cultural 360 in tracking the success and controversy of the song, the artist, and the evolution of online platforms like TikTok and YouTube to democratize the distribution and awareness of music. He also discusses the role that Lil Nas X's queerness has played in his success and post-"Old Town Road" career to date. Molanphy's book is a masterful and entertaining piece of cultural studies that, at 152 pages, takes exactly the time it needs to tell its story." - Elizabeth DeNoma (Shelf Awareness) "It takes Chris Molanphy just 125 pages to brilliantly chronicle the twists and turns that made Lil Nas X single 'Old Town Road' such a phenomenon." - Andy Davidson (Americana UK) "Readers with a general interest in American music history and the intersection of pop culture, race, and the evolution of music genres will find Molanphy's book informative and well-documented. Old Town Road offers insightful observations about the cultural and commercial impact of this hit song's cross-over between Rap and Country music and the coming-of-age of Generation Z artist Lil Nas X (Montero Lamar Hill). . . . Molanphy's book is a great starting point for additional analyses and enjoyment of this remarkable record-breaking song." - Kirsten Mollegaard (Journal of American Culture)