Lil Nas X lands his first magazine cover sharing the insight on his quick rise to fame with Teen Vogue.
Riding Old Town Road all the way to the top of the charts, Lil Nas X’s rise in music and pop culture occurred very quickly but not to his surprise. Teen Vogue shares how Lil Nas X crafted his song intentionally to not only be listenable but memeable. The song, received vocals from Billy Ray Cyrus on the official remix, a cinematic music video and remains on top of the charts.
The song, loved by fans of all ages, represents a time in Lil Nas X’s life where he felt ready to leave everything and start over. After moving in with his sister, both anticipated change.
“Around this time, my sister was like, ‘It’s time to go.’ She has kids, too. It made sense,” he says about the shift that inspired the spirit of the hit song. “’Take my horse to the old town road and ride till I can’t no more’ basically means just running away, and everything is just gone. The horse is metaphorical for not having anything or just the little things that you do have, and it’s with you. The ‘old town road,’ that’s what I’m on now. It’s never-ending until you’re gone — till you can’t no more.” says Lil Nas X.
Lil Nas X also shares with Teen Vogue his reaction to fame and fans. He wants to continue making new music however hopes his audience understand his sound is not one-dimensional.
“There’s a separation between my fan base and people who like this song. Just because you like one song from an artist, that doesn’t make you a fan. You’re a fan of that song. So I’m not losing any fans if they don’t like what I’m putting out because you wouldn’t necessarily be my fan if you were a fan of the song,” says Lil Nas X to Teen Vogue.
