Old Town Road - representation

Question 1

Who is Old Town Road by?

Answer 1

Lil Nas X

Question 2

How did the song gain popularity?

Answer 2

Tik Tok

Question 3

Where did the song reach on the billboard charts?

Answer 3

Number 1

Question 4

What aspect of representations was it awarded for?

Answer 4

equal access of LGBTQ

Question 5

How many copies of the record were sold?

Answer 5

18 million copies

Question 6

Where did the song reach on the Billboard Hot Country songs chart?

Answer 6

It reached number 19 before the magazine disqualified it on the basis that it did not fit the genre- this is significant as it highlights the genre in a hybrid one that is postmodern

Question 7

Why did people criticize Billboard for removing Old Town road from the Chart

Answer 7

Some thought it may be to do with ethnicity and race. Critics said it was a “blatant real time erasure of a young black artist pushing the boundaries of country music”

Question 8

How does Old Town Road represent the path to wealth and success?

Answer 8

• He believes his opportunities are limitless, hence why he is going to ride until he can’t no more
  -‘I got the horses in the back’- representation of how Lil Nas X is travelling on his journey to success and acknowledging the talent he believes he possesses (narrative of being the outsider with talents)
  -“riding on a horse, you can whip your porsche”- he doesn’t need anything special or complicated to make it in hip hop
  -‘riding on a tractor’ ‘my life is a movie’ referencing to making it as a pop star rather than living a life of drugs and adultery.

Question 9

What is the reference at the beginning of the music video to the removal of the song from the chart

Answer 9

The dialogue at the start. Lil Nas X said the last time the rapper tried to hide out in the area “they weren’t too welcoming to outsiders”
Billy Ray Cyrus who is seen as an accomplished pop star says “you’re with me this time” as Cyrus strong supported the inclusion of the song on the chart

Question 10

Why is Lil Nas X’s performance of gender significant to the Western genre? Which theorist could we link this to?

Answer 10

In playing with such a masculine, heterosexual genre, Lil Nas X shows traditional country audiences that these ideas of masculinity are not natural, rather social constructs
This could be linked to Van Zoonen, who believed societal gender roles seem “natural” often because they are reinforced in the discourse of mainstream media products

Question 11

What lines in the song portray Lil Nas X as a hero for defying gender stereotypes?

Answer 11

he’s ‘been in the valley’ while ‘you ain’t been off the porch’. These lines play on the idea of action heroes being defined by taking risks defining them against the passive majority

Question 12

How is masculinity stereotypically shown in Old Town Road?

Answer 12

Billy Ray Cyrus shows traditional masculinity as he has independence, confidence and a gun.
The rancher is unwelcoming as he is seen as the protector of his daughter
In the modern setting, two men are fixing a car, while women tend to the garden.
On the other hand Lil Nas X rides down the street fearless and undaunted

Question 13

When are the masculine stereotypes left behind

Answer 13

When he wins the race (he has beaten traditional stereotypes (good vs evil)) as the men are now wearing jewellry and pink tassels which are embraced by the new society. Highlighted by his transfiguration

Question 14

How does Lil Nas X conform to Judith Butler’s theory?

Answer 14

Lil Nas X stated he understood homosexuality was “not really accepted in either country or hip-hop communities” and that “people who listen the most” to his song were probably “not accepting of homosexuality”. He saw his work as calling out the music industry resisting change and broader definitions of masculinity.
Lil Nas X tries to redefine gender through actions: he rides on a horse, carries out a bank robbery assumedly and yet he wears pink tassels and earrings: a colour stereotypically associated with girls. Shows a breaking down of binary oppositions and how his gender is fluid embracing both stereotypically male and female actions

Question 15

What is the Yee-Haw agenda?

Answer 15

-black cowboy style that emerged in 2019 from the internet and Tik-Tok
-it soon became a movement focused on reasserting the place of Black Americans in history as western being a part of their identity. 25% of the cowboys in the late 19th century were black, which Hollywood and other mass media production companies made invisible in their narratives

Question 16

What in the video shows othering in society?

Answer 16

The hostility of the landowner when protecting his daughter is an example of fear of the other

Question 17

What is the significance of the people in the bingo hall being white?

Answer 17

The white towns folk come to admire Lil Nas X- a commentary of the genre being accepted for its quality not its tropes.

Question 18

What is the representation of women like in the video?

Answer 18

There is very little to no representation of women apart from the girl who has to be protected by her daddy, highlighting patriarchal ideas that women need protecting.
There are lots of women in the bingo hall at then end who celebrate the friendship and new found insider, but this suggests women aren’t a part of the fighter or greater story and can only be part of the prize and celebration.
However, it’s refreshing to see a western based on an evil that is not a damsel in distress and so the lack of a women who needs saving could be seen as progressive in itself

Question 19

Why does Cyrus reference Marlboro Man?

Answer 19

“Got no stress, I’ve been through all that/I’m like a Marlboro Man so I kick on back”
The Marlboro man is an iconic figure of the 60s and 70s- used in advertisement and portrayed as a relaxed cowboy. Shows again how Cyrus is living a relaxed life of a rockstar.

Question 20

How is Billy Ray Cyrus portrayed as a pre-made rockstar?

Answer 20

‘hat down, cross town, living like a rockstar’ ‘baby’s got a habit: diamond ring and fendi sports bra’
Billy Ray Cyrus is saying here that he is a rockstar after having been on his own journey

Question 21

What shows that Cyrus is ready to pass on the baton to Lil Nas X

Answer 21

“Wish I could go on back to that old town road/ I wanna ride till I can’t no more”
This tells us he’s now sick of fame and ready to move out of the spotlight- he’s passing the torch onto Lil Nas X to take this over

Question 22

How is masculinity typically represented in Westerns?

Answer 22

They are usually tested and often have to stand up to overwhelming odds. This can be fighting gangs or enduring the desert on their own (consider Maffesoli and how we naturally form groups)

Question 23

How does the reference to Marlboro man link to gender?

Answer 23

This shows Cyrus as the archetypal American cowboy. Billy Ray uses established conventions of masculinity as a measure of his own gender role: Butler

Question 24

How does the representation of race show postmodernism?

Answer 24

The sheriff is black wouldn’t be expected
The shock on the African-American’s faces show how they are surprised to see themselves portrayed as a cowboy because until now a myth has been created through Hollywood’s repeated simulacra that only white people are cowboys

Question 25

How can Paul Gilroy be applied to the video?

Answer 25

West vs the rest and civilisationism: Cyrus is shown as more powerful than Lil Nas X when he says you’re with me now. Lil Nas X is portrayed to be dangerous at the start of the video, carrying out a bank robbery and it’s suggested the white daughter needs protecting from him. This is commenting on how the equilibrium sees black people as dangerous and threatening.

By the end of the video, he is no longer seen as other as he dances with the people in the townshall, showing definace of Gilroy’s theory

The people living the American dream are shocked to see themselves as represented as a cowboy given Hollywood’s simulacra has cut them out. They live in a state of double consciousness as they try to be American but neither are American or black and so are forced to see themselves through the eyes of how society sees them: other and inferior.

Question 26

What values and ideologies are communicated in the video?

Answer 26

Independence: “Can’t nobody tell me nothin’”
Authenticity: Blending hip-hop and country music styles
Resilience: “I’m gonna ride ‘til I can’t no more”
Cultural Celebration: References to cowboy culture and country music tropes
Inclusivity: Appeal to diverse audience across genres and demographics

Question 27

How can Gauntlet be applied?

Answer 27

More varied representations of masculinity offer audiences more identity models to follow

Question 28

How could Gilroy’s idea of double conciousness be applied?

Answer 28

Lil Nas X has openly stated he has struggled with his own sexuality and Christian background, as well as being a black artist trying to break into a more white centric genre