Is there comedy in the song? For sure: “My life is a movie / Bull riding and boobies / Cowboy hat from Gucci / Wrangler on my booty.” Those are funny lines! But they’re also sufficiently well-crafted - as vivid as they are pithy - to make us question our reflexive dismissal of music that makes us laugh. “And ‘Old Town Road’ is a very inventive piece of music.”īuilt on a track that Lil Nas X bought online for 30 bucks from an unknown producer in the Netherlands, “Old Town Road” combines the rapper’s drawled delivery with a booming beat and an eerie banjo lick sampled from Nine Inch Nails it’s hardly the first song to blend hip-hop and country, though there’s something about its proportions - the way it carefully balances swagger and whimsy _ that feels fresh. Demento, the veteran radio host known for playing weird and wacky records.
“Novelty isn’t just about being funny - it’s also about being new,” said Dr.
