Lil Nas X

7

BY Jacob CareyPublished Jun 24, 2019

6
Lil Nas X has had a lot to live up to prior to the release of his first EP, 7. The Atlanta native turned into a viral sensation seemingly overnight with the release of his country-rap track "Old Town Road," whose controversy with genre classification on Billboard charts only propelled its success into the mainstream. As Billy Ray Cyrus was the first to hop on the official remix, and it having since spent 11 weeks, and counting, holding the #1 spot, many questioned whether Lil Nas X was doomed to become a one-hit wonder.
 
7 proves that Lil Nas X's versatility and eclectic taste will be one of his defining factors as a musician. Despite being labelled as "country" across streaming platforms, there is very little country about the project, save for the intro and outro tracks being the remix and original version of "Old Town Road."
 
With those accounted for, listeners only get six new songs from the artist. 7 is surely rooted as rap, although the use of guitar and drums on many tracks, such as "F9mily" and "Bring U Down," inch the EP closer to being labelled as rock than country.
 
Even with Nirvana's Kurt Cobain receiving songwriting credits for "Panini," this song easily feels like Lil Nas X's next big hit as a rap song. 7 also features an appearance from Cardi B on "Rodeo," while "Kick It" is the track that slowly grows on you with more listens.
 
Despite 7 not being a fantastic project by any measure, the EP proves that Lil Nas X isn't a one-hit wonder and can find longevity in his career as long as he continues to show off his versatility.
(Columbia)

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