Miley Cyrus is digging Lil Nas X’s version of “Old Town Road” with her dad, Billy Ray Cyrus.
🐎 @billyraycyrus @LilNasX pic.twitter.com/74Luy7bXlZ
— Miley Ray Cyrus (@MileyCyrus) April 5, 2019
After Billboard controversially kicked “Old Town Road” off the country charts for not meeting its requirements for country music, the 19-year-old country hip-hop artist added famed country artist Billy Ray Cyrus to the mix in an effort to get back on the charts.
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Cyrus seemed to dig the remix, sharing an old video of a mullet-clad Billy Ray in his heyday dancing on stage — but instead of a Billy Ray song, the audio was replaced with “Old Town Road.”
Throughout the day, Cyrus shared a link to the remix featuring her dad and retweeted several memes of Billy Ray and Lil Nas X.
Billy Ray also spent the day tweeting and sharing memes about his involvement with the song. Earlier in the week, after Billboard removed it from country charts, Cyrus tweeted at the artist: “@LilNasX Been watching everything going on with [Old Town Road]. When I got thrown off the charts, Waylon Jennings said to me ‘Take this as a compliment’ means you’re doing something great! Only Outlaws are outlawed. Welcome to the club!”
.@LilNasX Been watching everything going on with OTR. When I got thrown off the charts, Waylon Jennings said to me “Take this as a compliment” means you’re doing something great! Only Outlaws are outlawed. Welcome to the club!
— Billy Ray Cyrus (@billyraycyrus) April 3, 2019
Billboard‘s official explanation said that “While ‘Old Town Road’ incorporates references to country and cowboy imagery, it does not embrace enough elements of today’s country music to chart in its current version.”
The decision as sharply criticized as unfair and even racist, prompting a debate about the genre and race in Nashville. The exclusion of the song struck many as odd, given the increasing influence of hip-hop on mainstream country, like in the work of singers like Kane Brown and even Florida Georgia Line or Tim McGraw, both of whom have collaborated with Nelly.
The video for the original version of song, which originally gained popularity on the Tik Tok app, has racked up more than 23 million views on YouTube since it was shared in December.