Lil Nas X (1999-…) is an American rap music artist. He gained widespread fame for his first single, the country music and rap hit “Old Town Road” (2018) and its 2019 remix featuring the American country singer Billy Ray Cyrus. The song enjoyed success on the country music charts, marking an unprecedented feat for an African American rapper. In 2020, Lil Nas X and Cyrus shared a Grammy Award for best pop duo/group performance for the song.
Montero Lamar Hill was born on April 9, 1999, in Atlanta, Georgia. He grew up with an interest in music, briefly playing the trumpet. After graduating high school in 2017, he attended the University of West Georgia in Carrollton, west of Atlanta, for one year. He tried comedy writing, then began working to establish his musical career.
Hill began releasing singles under the name Lil Nas X on the music-sharing website SoundCloud. Nas was Hill’s internet alias (online name). He added Lil before Nas as a joke, because many rap artists at the time had stage names beginning with Lil. He added X to represent the Roman numeral 10, because he believed it would be 10 years before he became known as a “legendary performer.” Shortly before the release of “Old Town Road,” Lil Nas X released a mixtape titled Nasarati (2018). In hip-hop culture, a mixtape is an independently produced recording, often distributed for free. In December 2018, Lil Nas X released “Old Town Road” under SoundCloud’s country category. The song blended elements of rap and hip-hop music with tones and themes from country music. “Old Town Road” gained rapid popularity when it was featured on the social media video-sharing service TikTok.
In March 2019, “Old Town Road” entered the “Hot Country Songs” chart, published by the magazine Billboard. The placement of a rap song on the country charts proved controversial. Billboard later moved the single to its Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Some critics attributed the move to racism among the overwhelmingly white country music establishment. Recording a remix with Cyrus, an established country musician, boosted the song’s country appeal. The remixed version returned the song to the country charts. It also reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, remaining on the chart for a record-breaking 19 weeks.
Lil Nas X signed a recording contract with Columbia Records in 2019. The same year, he released his first EP, 7 EP. EP is short for extended play, a collection of recordings somewhat shorter than a full-length album. 7 EP also included the song “Rodeo,” featuring the American rap artist Cardi B. Lil Nas X followed up 7 EP with the single “Panini” (2019), which reached the top 10 on the Billboard “Hot 100” chart. In 2021, his single “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” debuted at number one on the chart.
