This EP was released on June 21st this year. I’m not really gonna say too much in this intro because there is nobody reading this who doesn’t know who Lil Nas X is at this point. I’m just gonna say, Old Town Road is not a country song. Obviously I’m not a Country expert, but I’m pretty sure having an exaggerated Southern accent and incorporating a guitar sample doesn’t make your song Country. Maybe I’m wrong though. Either way, I don’t mind it being on the Country charts because half the songs there are more Pop than anything anyway. While we’re on the topic of genres, I’m just gonna come out and say that I don’t really consider this project Hip Hop. If anything it’s Pop. Lil Nas X doesn’t rap a single time on this entire project. He’s a singer. In fact, there’s only one rapped verse on this EP, and it’s from Cardi B. I get why other people would refer to this project as Hip Hop though because there’s a lot of Hip Hop influence in the production. There’s influence from a plethora of genres. I wasn’t really planning on checking this project out at all until I heard Panini, which was technically the third single I guess.

I actually think it’s awesome. That may be surprising to some people since it’s basically just a Travis Scott rip off. It’s a good Travis Scott rip off though. In fact, I like it a lot more than most of Travis Scott’s music, mainly because I just think Lil Nas X’s voice sounds way better. I’ve never been a Travis Scott fan in the first place though, so maybe it isn’t that surprising. I just think the melody is really catchy. The lyrics are kinda lame, but it’s pretty much what you’d expect from a Pop song. So yeah, after hearing Panini, I was like “maybe his project won’t be complete trash after all.” I was thankfully right. Panini’s still definitely my favorite track, but I liked a decent amount of the material here. Oh, by the way, that Panini remix with DaBaby that just dropped is fire. Anyway, I also liked the Travis Barker collaboration a lot. I think the production is probably the best aspect of this entire project. I really liked pretty much every instrumental. The Travis Barker track, F9mily [sic], is pretty much a Pop Rock song. I liked it a lot though. It’s really catchy. I get how people could think it’s kinda lame though. The lyrics aren’t really great. I don’t think anyone’s expecting brilliant writing from Lil Nas X though. C7osure [sic]—I really hate this weird spelling of the titles with numbers btw—was another track that I kinda liked, even though it just sounds like an R&B song from Drake. I thought Lil Nas X’s singing sounded pretty good, and I liked the melody. It’s not an amazing song or anything, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it. The only other track I enjoyed was the original version of Old Town Road. When I first heard the song, I thought it was pretty bad. I mean, I thought it was catchy, but it sounded like a joke, so I didn’t think I’d ever wanna listen to it again. However, much like everyone else, the song was really forced down my throat by the media in general, and it eventually grew on me. The catchiness of that hook is undeniable, and the dumb lyrics are funny. It’s a fun song. I always sing it at the top of my lungs when I’m showering. The version of this song that I actually like is technically a bonus track though. He included the remix with Billy Ray Cyrus as the opening song.

I know everybody seems to love that version for some reason, but Billy Ray Cyrus kinda ruined the song for me. People seemed to be more excited about his presence on the track than his actual performance, but when I pointed that out someone called me a “hater.” Do I think the remix is trash? No. It’s definitely inferior to the original though because Billy Ray Cyrus’ performance frankly sucked ass. His singing is not good at all, and his verse was trash. The song is still decent though. I saw a lot of people saying that Bring U Down was the best track on the project, but I actually thought it was a low point personally. Pretty much the only aspect of the song that I like is the production from Ryan Tedder & Zack Skelton. I just don’t really care for the repetitive melody from Lil Nas X at all. Actually, I don’t even really think the instrumental is that great either to be honest. The song sucks to me. I know Rodeo was another standout for a lot of people, but I just don’t see myself coming back to it. It is decent though. I loved the production, and I actually thought Cardi B’s verse was pretty good. The melody of the hook from Lil Nas X was kinda cool, but, as my friend David Rowe pointed out in his review, it’s the exact same melody that Maxo Kream used in his song Meet Again—amazing song by the way. It’s a solid track, but I’m never gonna listen to it again. My least favorite track on the project is definitely Kick It. I actually think that song is terrible. There’s not a single facet of that track that I enjoyed. I guess the production is decent actually. I didn’t like Lil Nas X’s singing over it at all. Something about it just sounds off. Maybe it’s the melody. It just doesn’t sound like it fits very well over that beat to me. It’s really bad. 😦

Overall, I think this project is decent. It’s really a mixed bag, which shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. It does feel kinda rushed, and there are a couple duds in the tracklist, but Lil Nas X turned out to be a much more interesting and talented artist than I would’ve expected. I think he’s got a knack for catchy melodies and a good voice. The fusion of genres is cool. I don’t mind the fact that he doesn’t really rap at all because I get the feeling that he wouldn’t be very good at it. I’m looking forward to hearing a more focused body of work from him in the future. This one is just okay to me.

Favorite Song: Panini
Least Favorite Song: Kick It

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Watch the videos below for more thoughts on this project.