Diplo Latest to Create Remix of Old Town Road
Following the success of Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus' country-trap hit "Old Town Road", Diplo decided to put his own spin on the viral sensation. On Sunday he finally published his remix to YouTube and Soundcloud (see below). This comes in the wake of Diplo's performance at California's Stagecoach music festival, where he brought Cyrus and Lil Nas X onstage to give the first ever live rendition of their No. 1 hit.
Old Town Road recently made headlines after Billboard decided to remove it from the country music charts. They claimed that “it does not embrace enough elements of today’s country music to chart in its current version.” It seemed they were swayed by critics claiming that the song leaned more towards rap, which is when country-icon Billy Ray Cyrus stepped in.
Cyrus took to Twitter, saying "It was so obvious to me after hearing the song just one time. I was thinking, what’s not country about it? What’s the rudimentary element of a country and western song? Then I thought, it’s honest, humble, and has an infectious hook, and a banjo. What the hell more do ya need?"
Country Music On The Rise
Old Town Road has reigned at the top of Billboard's Hot 100 for the last four weeks, meaning that Lil Nas X currently has the longest-leading debut No. 1 (among artists billed as leads) since OMI's "Cheerleader" in 2015. According to Soundcloud, the original version of the song and the remix featuring Cyrus have racked up a combined total of over 225 million streams, so it's no wonder Diplo wanted in on the action.
There's been a surge in popularity for country music lately, and Diplo has announced that he's working on a new project called Thomas Wesley, which is also his birth name. As part of this, he has already released the track "So Long" featuring Cam and is said to have other Nashville collaborations in the works.
FestGround is Asia's leading music festival ticketing platform.
For more festival information and updates, sign up here to subscribe to our newsletter.