Fresh off of his removal from the country music Billboard charts, Lil Nas X is back with a remix to his country/trap song “Old Town Road” — and he’s added country legend Billy Ray Cyrus. It looks like the decision to add Miley Cyrus’ dad was a good one. On Friday morning, both “Billy Ray Cyrus” and “Old Town Road” were trending on Twitter, with people using the social media platform to express their appreciation for the “Achy Breaky Heart” singer’s verse.
“I usually wake up to sad or annoying news updates on my phone every morning but waking up to Billy Ray Cyrus rapping is a change of energy I didn’t know I needed,” one person wrote on Twitter .
“Billy Ray Cyrus just reserved his seat to the next cookout,” another Twitter user wrote.
In his verse, Cyrus sings about diamond rings and Maseratis, tropes that are normally associated with trap music. But it’s surprisingly effective over the “Old Town Road” beat.
“I’m gonna take my horse to the Old Town Road — I’m gonna ride till I can’t no more,” Cyrus sings. “Baby’s gotta have a diamond ring and Fendi sports bras. Riding down Rodeo with my Maserati sports car.”
As CNN notes, the original song first gained its meteoric popularity on the TikTok app, where users often upload short videos backed by songs. That social media success soon translated into success on the charts — including the Billboard Hot Country Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.
But Lil Nas X’s rise came to a halt last week when Billboard pulled the song from the country charts, claiming that it did not contain enough elements to classify it as a country song. Billboard claimed that their decision had nothing to do with Lil Nas X being African-American, although many said that the decision seemed steeped in racism.
https://twitter.com/billyraycyrus/status/1114033521251823616
When the news of the song’s removal broke, Billy Ray Cyrus tweeted his support for Lil Nas X, which in hindsight seems like a hint that he planned to jump on the remix. In the tweet, Cyrus recalled the time that Billboard pulled one of his songs from the charts, and suggested that Lil Nas X think of himself as an “outlaw.”
https://twitter.com/billyraycyrus/status/1113531625336385536
There’s no word yet on whether this remix will also be excluded from the Billboard Country Music charts. However, the original version is still on their Top 100 chart, sitting at position No. 15, according to Billboard .