OLD TOWN ROAD FT. BILLY RAY CYRUS | Old Town Road (Official Movie) | 2020
Riding a Horse Straight Through the Fence of Genre / Lil Nas X "Old Town Road (Official Movie) ft. Billy Ray Cyrus"
A 20-year-old college dropout bought a beat for 30 dollars and wrote a song over it in a single day. That song was "Old Town Road." The official music video went on to win the Grand Prix in Entertainment Lions for Music at Cannes in 2021.
The insight
Over the course of several months, Lil Nas X personally seeded more than 100 memes, planting them across Twitter and TikTok. He even turned the genre controversy—his "enemy"—into fuel, then teamed up with a country icon from a completely different generation. It was a way of turning culture itself into the advertisement.
The idea
Director Calmatic blended a western with science fiction. In 1889, Nas and Cyrus are on the run as horse thieves, then time-travel to 2019. A street race between a horse and a muscle car ends with the horse winning, and the scene shifts to a dance breaking out in a bingo hall. Songwriter Jozzy told Cyrus not to sing like typical country, but instead to step into Nas's world—and modern-day signifiers like Fendi and Maserati were woven into the song.
What happened
"Old Town Road" set a record by staying at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for 19 consecutive weeks, and the video has been viewed more than 845 million times. Beyond the Grand Prix at Cannes, it also won a Grammy and a VMA.
Afterthought
What was supposed to be a label promo video ended up breaking down genre barriers, connecting generations, and turning controversy into fuel. All that from a 30-dollar beat. Makes me want to hop on a horse too 🐴
Awards
- Cannes Lions Grand Prix 2020
