Lil Nas X has galloped to two new records on the Billboard charts with the massive success of “Old Town Road.”
The song that beat out Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men’s “One Sweet Day” and Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee and Justin Bieber’s “Despacito” to become the longest-running No. 1 hit in the history of Billboard’s all-genres Hot 100 chart — 19 weeks so far — has now set records on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop and Hot Rap charts.
With its 19th week at No. 1, “Old Town Road,” which features Billy Ray Cyrus, surpassed the record set by Drake’s “One Dance” on the R&B/hip-hop chart. Drake spent 18 weeks at No.1.
On the rap songs chart, where Lil Nas X’s county-rap tune also has now spent 19 weeks on top, the 20-year-old beats the record set by Drake’s “Hotline Bling,” Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy” and Missy Elliott’s “Hot Boyz,” which each spent 18 weeks at No. 1.
Last month, Lil Nas X’s viral song became the most successful No. 1 song of all time when it reached its 17th week at No. 1 on the Hot 100 chart — Billboard’s main chart for singles. That surpassed the 16-week record previously held by “One Sweet Day” and “Despacito.”
Lil Nas X’s song, which has achieved most of its success through audio streaming, originally was a solo song, then he added Cyrus to the track. He also has done remixes featuring Diplo, Young Thug, Mason Ramsey and BTS, and Billboard counts the original and its remixes as one when calculating chart position, which has helped “Old Town Road” stay on top.
