Again in 2019, nothing was greater — or extra controversial — in nation music than Lil Nas X’s viral hit, “Outdated City Highway.”

The Atlanta-based rapper blazed onto the nation social media area with the music, which paired a hip-hop beat with conventional nation lyricism and imagery, and “Outdated City Highway” shortly started to organically stand up the Billboard Scorching Nation Songs chart — till Billboard eliminated it from consideration, deciding that the music wasn’t sufficiently nation to benefit inclusion on the chart.

What ensued was a sizzling debate about what precisely defines a music as nation, and whether or not Billboard‘s determination had extra to do with race than it did with the music itself. Billy Ray Cyrus bought concerned in a remix, and everybody from Jason Aldean to Keith City to Sam Elliott name-checked the music with covers, mentions and social media posts.

Amid all of the controversy and hype, Lil Nas X says he felt just a little embarrassed of his huge hit. In a brand new TikTok publish, the rapper shares a cheeky reflection admitting that he thought the music was “cringe” — and saying he is bought a special perspective on it now, 5 years later.

“Me immediately realizing I spent 5 years considering my very own music was cringe as a result of ugly losers who won’t ever make something as nice and game-changing because it bought into my head,” he wrote within the publish. over a video of himself dancing to the Billy Ray Cyrus remix of “Outdated City Highway.”

What Is “Outdated City Highway”‘s Legacy in Nation Music?

• Lil Nas X wasn’t exaggerating when he stated his viral, controversial hit was “game-changing.”
• The music helped open a rustic viewers’s minds to the thought of a mainstream chart crossover between hip-hop and nation. Although there was definitely a precedent of collaboration between the genres — reminiscent of hits from Cowboy Troy and the hick-hop subgenre — few songs from that world had been ever as widespread as “Outdated City Highway.”
• Since 2019, nation music has seen a large uptick in hit songs launched by Black artists generally. It is also seen a rise in hip-hop-informed hits reminiscent of Blanco Brown’s “The Git Up” and Breland’s “My Truck.”
• Artists like Morgan Wallen, Kane Brown and Jelly Roll have continuously collaborated with artists from the hip-hop area, and Wallen has been within the studio with rapper Put up Malone as Put up readies his nation album.
• In 2024, Beyoncé dropped a full nation mission, which digs deep into the historical past of the style and emphasizes the contributions made by Black performers and R&B and hip-hop sounds.
• Most just lately, Shaboozey hit the highest of the Billboard Scorching 100 and Scorching Nation charts — breaking a document within the course of — along with his smash hit “A Bar Music (Tipsy),” which borrows from J-Kwon’s 2004 rap smash, “Tipsy.”

“Cringe” or not, the success of “Outdated City Highway” has been long-lasting and simple. In 2021, it turned essentially the most Platinum-certified music within the historical past of the Recording Trade Affiliation of America (RIAA.)

It is also one among solely eight nation songs to ever promote greater than 10 million copies.