Lil Nas X

Lil Nas X translated viral fame into mainstream number one success with "Old Town Road," a country-rap crossover that was controversially omitted from the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.

Born Montero Lamar Hill in Atlanta, GA in 1999, Lil Nas X first began performing in high school as a trumpeter before switching his focus to the social media world, establishing a significant presence on Twitter with a Nicki Minaj fan account and on Vine and Facebook with various comedy shorts. Following a brief stint studying at the University of West Georgia, Lil Nas X began making his own music and in the summer of 2018 released his first track, "Shame," on Soundcloud. The Nasarati mixtape and October 21st EP followed, as did a collaboration with rapper Skaiwater.

But it was the uploading of "Old Town Road" in December that same year that turned him into a star. A two-minute blend of country and hip-hop which also sampled Nine Inch Nails, the song became an instant viral hit as the soundtrack to Yeehaw Challenge, a popular meme on social media channel TikTok.

By March 2019, the track had climbed all the way to the top spot on the US Hot 100. However, despite incorporating elements of the genre, it was controversially omitted from the Hot Country Songs chart, with Billboard claiming that it didn't "embrace enough elements of today's country music."

The furore surrounding this decision only helped to further promote the song and resulted in fan Billy Ray Cyrus lending his vocals to a remix which replaced the original at the top of the US Hot 100. By this point Lil Nas X had signed to Columbia Records and in June 2019 dropped his first major label EP, 7.