Congratulations are in order! Lil Nas X rode his horse right into history with his hit record "Old Town Road."
On Monday (July 29), Billboard announced that the 20-year-old rapper's country-trap track had secured its 17th week on the Hot 100 chart, breaking the record first set by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men's "One Sweet Day," which topped the chart for 16 weeks from December 1995 to March 1996.
The Billboard record was also previously held by Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee and Justin Bieber's "Despacito (Remix)," which tied with "One Sweet Day" for the #1 spot back in 2017.
Following the announcement, Lil Nas X shared his excitement on Instagram, captioning a series of photos and videos from his life-changing year by explaining the journey it took for him to get to this moment. "last year in october 🎃 , as a struggling artist 🤦🏾♂️starting to lose faith in what i could be, i went looking for beats on youtube👨🏾💻. i remember clicking on so many generic sounding beats🥁😞trying to find the right one for me🤔. when suddenly i came across a country-trap 👨🏾🌾🏚sounding masterpiece🤩. i immediately knew i would make something special out of it🤯💭⚡️!" he explained. "my sister👩🏽 told me i had little time left ⏳before i had to leave her house 🏠 after being there for months📆 promoting my music🎶 online 🤳🏾and not helping🤷🏾♂️ her out much. i was so upset 😔! i used it as motivation for the song🎼! i jokingly/seriously saw myself as a loner 🚶🏾♂️ cowboy🤠 needing to 🏃🏾run away from it all🎭! I went out 👟👟 on my sister’s back porch 😶 and listened to the beat 🎧OVER 🔄& OVER 🔄& OVER🔄!! then it came to me😳!! in my best singing voice😮 i sung🎶 “YEAHHH IM GONNA TAKE MY HORSE🐎 TO THE OLD TOWN ROAD 🛣 IM GONNA RIDEEEE TIL I CANT NO MORE 😔😔” I LOVED IT ALREADY!"
"i started to work on it👨🏾🎨 👉🏾EVERY SINGLE DAY👈🏾. it needed to be funny🤣, it needed to be catchy🤗🎵, it needed to be hip hop 🗣🔥, it needed to be country🐴🍺, & it needed to be short👌🏾!!" he continued. "by the time i was finished 😅 setting it up 💁🏾♂️ i was out of my sister’s crib🏡 and at my brothers 👨🏾🦱 place. on ☃️🌬december 2️⃣nd i went into the studio 🎤🎤🎼 & recorded OLD TOWN ROAD🐎🤩✨ & put it out the exact same 🗓day!! did i know it would become the longest running number 1️⃣ song of all time? 🤔NO! ‼️ but i am so thankful🙏🏾 that this blessing ✨ has been placed upon me🤠. this song has changed my life🤩🤩🤩 and the way i see the world🌎🌍around me🙋🏾♂️ in less than a year📈. thank you to every single person☝️ who has been apart of this journey🌄. as i said😯 before, it’s just the beginning! 🖤🤠🐎⚡️."
As fans know, after having "Old Town Road" pulled off the country charts for not being country enough, Lil Nas X returned to the top of the charts weeks later with a killer country remix, thanks to the help of Billy Ray Cyrus, that catapulted the track to #1 on the Hot 100 chart, where's it's stayed for the last seventeen weeks.
Since its release, "Old Town Road" has been remixed countless times by everyone from Young Thug to BTS' RM. However, last week, Lil Nas X promised that RM's "Seoul Town Road," released last week, would be the final remix.
Photo: Getty Images