While the Atlanta artist’s country-trap single “Old Town Road” took over the world in 2019, Nashville’s gatekeepers were forced to reckon whether the insanely catchy track should be allowed on country stations and charts. Controversy was good for business, and as the hook and Lil Nas X’s hilarious Twitter presence showed, can’t nobody tell him nothing. Billy Ray Cyrus, Young Thug, Diplo, and even RM of K-pop superstars BTS contributed to the single’s legacy with spirited remixes. Yet for those expecting an “Old Town Road” sequel, songs like “Panini” and “Bring U Down” emphasise trap and alternative, respectively, signalling a burgeoning musicality and restless creativity peeking from underneath the cattleman brimmed hat. “People hear ‘Old Town Road’ and think it’s the only thing we want to do,” Lil Nas X told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. “I want you to listen to every little thing.”