After his ousterfrom the Hot Country US song charts triggered outrage and catapulted him toovernight fame, genre-bending artist Lil Nas X is up for a Country Music Award.His now-ubiquitous record-breaking megahit "Old Town Road"-whichmarries twangy banjo with thumping bass-will compete for "Musical Event ofthe Year" at this year's CMAs, organizers announced Wednesday. Theinfectious single by the Atlanta native was famously booted from Billboard's countrylist, with the industry tracker saying it was not in line with the genre'ssound.
Its removalsparked anger over perceived white-washing in the country music industry, withmany saying the novice musician's hit was pigeonholed as hip hop purely becausehe is black. Billboard denied those allegations-but didn't allow "Old TownRoad" back onto the country chart, even after genre veteran Billy RaeCyrus offered vocals for a remix of the hit, which is the version up for a CMA.Since then Lil Nas X broke the decades-old record for longest reign over theBillboard Hot 100, the industry's most closely watched singles chart, holdingthe spot for 19 weeks and fending off advances from pop juggernauts includingTaylor Swift and Justin Bieber.
This week theunknown artist-turned-industry maverick along with Cyrus snagged MTV VideoMusic Award for Best Song. The collaborators will now compete at the CMAs inNovember against country artists including Maren Morris and Garth Brooks."thank you guys for this nomination!!" tweeted Lil Nas X.-AFP
