Lil Nas X: Old Town Road Blog task

  Lil Nas X - Old Town Road: Blog tasks

Background and cultural contexts

Read this Vox feature and podcast transcript on Lil Nas X and Old Town Road. Make sure you read the whole thing - including the podcast transcript - then answer the following questions: 

1) What is the big debate regarding Old Town Road and genre?                                                                             "The debate over whether “Old Town Road” should be classified as country music. Earlier this year, Billboard removed “Old Town Road” from its country chart, which boosted the rapper’s profile to a wider audience while fueling a debate about what defines country music and who gets to decide."

2) What do you learn about the background of Lil Nas X and Old Town Road from the podcast transcript?               "Lil Nas X is a 20-year-old rapper from Atlanta. Technically his birth name is Montero Hill, but he has been calling himself “Lil Nas X” for several years now. And last year he joined SoundCloud, as many people do. And by the end of the year in December he released a song called “Old Town Road.”"

3) What is the Yeehaw agenda?                                                                                                                                       "The Yeehaw agenda was created by Bri Malandro, who tweeted about how a lot of black artists are getting interested in sort of the country aesthetic. And the way that Lil Nas X factored into that is, while people were picking up on the good ol’ cowboy/cowgirl aesthetic, his song was circulating on Twitter and he made it available for free on TikTok, which is this huge platform kind of akin to Vine where people can lip sync to songs and record themselves doing dance moves, and people who already were kind of feeling this kind of ironic cowboy vibe turned “Old Town Road” into the “Yee Haw Challenge.”

4) How did the story become a debate about race in America?
"This becomes about something bigger than country trap and TikTok and fun internet memes because you’ve got a black artist in America who’s charting in a very white music space and his song gets quietly removed by a very powerful, influential organization. Genius reached out and of course Billboard said, “Oh no, it has nothing to do with his race, it has everything to do with the song and the lack of country elements in it.” It immediately set off conversation, especially in the black Twitter community. Country has often been very much protected. There’s a big gatekeeping sort of vibe, and country music prevents black artists from really penetrating the scene. There are some exceptions."

5) How does Charlie Harding sum up the whole thing in the final part of the podcast transcript?                                       "These are not mutually exclusive and completely exhaustive categories; there is a lot of overlap. And I think that today people listen as much by mood as they do by genre, upending an entire way of thinking about the importance of these generic categories.We have to also point out how amazing it is that this thing which was a meme that was commentary on cowboy culture and black identity that became an immediate overnight thinkpiece which an aging country star then remixed. Like, this thing is entirely of our moment. This is not old country music of a rural community. This is the internet generation."

Now read this Salon feature on Lil Nas X and LGBTQ+ identity. Answer the following questions:

1) How did Lil Nas X announce his sexuality on social media?
"He tweeted “Some of y’all already know, some of y’all don’t care, some of y’all not gone fwm no more,” “But before this month ends i want y’all to listen closely to c7osure.” with a rainbow emoji and then posted the artwork from his new EP “7,” which features an illustration of him wearing a cowboy hat and riding a horse towards a building glowing with rainbow lights."

2) Why does the article describe Old Town Road as 'genre-blurring'?                                                                                   "As his breakthrough hit harnessed both hip hop and country sounds and fans. Lil Nas X's public declaration of his sexuality touches both genres."

3) How has country music demonstrated the social change taking place in American culture and society?           "2014 was a big year for LGBTQ news in country music. The trend in growing acceptance and support followed a nationwide social and political shift. By 2014, the states that had legalized same-sex marriage cumulatively contained 70 percent of the U.S. population. Then, in 2015,  U.S. Supreme Court struck down all state bans, making marriage equality the law of the land." 

Old Town Road textual analysis

Watch the video again and answer the following questions. Use your notes from our in-class analysis to help you:

1) How is the narrative features used in the music video? Apply narrative theory here.

• Binary opposition: Western vs Modern, Rap music vs Country music.
• Action codes: shooting, gun being cocked, whip sound 
• Enigma codes: Time travel, the tunnel 
• Propp: Hero & Villain 

2) What examples of genre conventions and intertextuality can you find in the video?

• Intertextuality: name check brands which are significant to rap, Hip Hop culture, line dancing, bingo hall, country genre vs hip hop genre, hood, rap genre. 
• Celebrity Cameos

3) How are technical codes used to create meanings in the video? Analyse camerawork, editing and mise-en-scene and make specific reference to moments in the video.

• Costume: cowboy outfit used to create meaning of the western, modern clothing used to represent current fashion.
• Lighting: high key
• Props: cars and horse used to create old vs new meaning
• Camerawork is fast paced in order to appeal to the digital culture and keep interest.
• Editing: uses fades and many cuts.  

4) How are representations of race and ethnicity constructed in the video?

Lil Nas X is a young Black man. 

While Lil Nas X is singing it only shows Black extras which links to the fact that rap/ hip hop are usually associated with Black rappers, and when Billy Ray Cyrus was singing it showed white people at a bingo hall line dancing and stereotypically, country music is associated with white artists.

5) What other representations can you find in the video? You may wish to comment on gender, sexuality or America/American culture. 

Linking to Lil Nas X's sexuality and the fact that he is gay may make the audience view old town road in a different meaning.

Old Town Road Media Factsheet

Finally, read Media Factsheet #262 - Old Town Road. You'll need to log in to Google using your Greenford Google account to access this. Read the factsheet and answer the following questions: 

1) Who are the celebrities that appear in cameos in the video? 

It featured people such as: Chris Rock and Haha Davis, rappers Vince Staples and Rico Nasty, songwriter Jozzy, producer Youngkio, and DJ Diplo.

2) Choose three of the key terms defined on the first page of the factsheet and write the definitions here. Focus on terms you are unfamiliar with.

-Archetypal: A representation that is very typical of a person, place or thing.

-Cultural Myth: Deeper ideologies that have been shaped through cultural coding through connotations over time.

-Mytheme: Small units of narrative in cultural products; such as theme, character and action, the
study of which can reveal the dominant ideas and values of culture.

3) How did Lil Nas X use social media to boost his own popularity and the success of the video?

Lil Nas X had knowledge of social media that was a major factor in how this happened. Firstly, he was a fan of Nicki Minaj and ran an anonymous Twitter account named @nasmaraj. Lil Nas X, despite saying he did not run the account later admitted he did. Lil Nas X had a clear understanding of social media’s role in marketing and promotion of stars even before he released his own music.

4) Look at the video analysis on page 3. What conventions of the western can be found in the video? 

The use of the horse is a convention since cowboys in westerns usually tend to be riding horses.

5) How does the video begin? 

The video begins with Lil Nas X riding through a countryside being chased by the sheriff and his deputies.

6) What does the factsheet suggest regarding the modern-day part of the video? 

The Wild West of the 1800s is transposed to Los Angeles to create a comic juxtaposition for the audience; from the desolate, unwelcoming outback to the suburban streets of Los Angeles where the inhabitants are filmed in slow motion astonished at the sight of this newcomer.

8) How does the factsheet suggest the video creates a hyperreality? 

It suggest how Los Angeles represents a land of opportunities. This can be seen in the car race where the horse beats the car which earns his some cash. This shows how money can be possibly earned fairly.

9) How is masculinity represented in the video? 

Instead of a dominant male we have a duo of Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus, who are more reminiscent of the Genre of Integration. However, in the early part of the video just as they are about to be shot by the suspicious people in the homestead, Cyrus states: “This should be fine, we’ll settle in here for the night.” Lil Nas X replies “I don’t know man. Last time I was here, they weren’t too welcoming to outsiders.” This element is characteristic of The Genre of Order where the space –
“the land” is being contested through threats of violence.

10) Look at the final page. What theories are suggested for this CSP and which do you think are the most useful? 

Judith Butler’s theory is quite useful because effectively to the video as it draws attention to the performative nature of gender. Stereotypical feminine gender codes, such as the pink suits and flowers, highlight that “the inner truth is a fabrication.” Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus do not “perform” like conventional cowboys.