When I first started, I wasn't trying to go viral. I just liked making funny videos, content that people would enjoy.
— Lil Nas X
In 2017, I enjoyed my time on the Internet more than doing things in real life.
I was pretty familiar with TikTok: I always thought its videos would be ironically hilarious. When I became a trending topic on there, it was a crazy moment for me. A lot of people will try to downplay it, but I saw it as something bigger.
You step away from the public eye for too long, they don't care no more.
People come in because they like 'Old Town Road.' They'll find out that I'm just not going to stick to that.
Just because you like one song from an artist, that doesn't make you a fan.
I was doing good in school, but I didn't want to do school anymore.
I'm not, like - what's the word when you believe in a lot of magic? Superstitious.
My dad's name is Robert Stafford. His music name is R. L. Stafford; he makes gospel music.
I'm from Atlanta, but I don't really consider myself an 'Atlanta rapper.'
I'm always going to be experimenting musically, trying new things.
When I first started to do music, I was kind of doing what I thought people would want me to do.
I was doing Facebook comedy videos; then I moved over to Instagram, and then I hopped on Twitter. That is where I really was a master. That was the first place where I could go viral.
'Old Town Road''s the peak of me doing whatever I want to do with music. I was like, 'This one is special,' and I promoted it heavily on my account on Twitter.
I believe whenever you're trying something new, it's always going to get some kind of bad reception.
For one, the 'countryness' is pretty much in my blood. I'm from Georgia, down south. That voice just lives in me.
I feel like I'm opening the doors for more people. That they feel more comfortable being out. Especially in the hip-hop community.
TikTok helped me change my life. TikTok brought my song to several different audiences at once.
I was just trying to fit into a certain spectrum. Just like, basic rap.
Yeah, with 'NASARATI,' that was my first project. I really worked literally three days on it, writing on the beats and putting it together. I'm not saying that I don't love the mixtape, but it was really my first, first move in rap. I tried to make sure everything sound different, so you hear no two songs and think they sound alike.
Take my horse to the old town road and ride till I can't no more' basically means just running away, and everything is just gone. The horse is metaphorical for not having anything or just the little things that you do have, and it's with you.
I'm like Twitter-famous, but in real life. Instead of your mentions, it's real people coming up to you. People shake your hand instead of liking your tweets.
But music was never something I saw myself doing.
I feel like Drake is doing exactly what I plan on doing, just being sick for all of, what, a decade now? And just always being able to switch it up and never stay in one box.
The thing is that when I'm making music, I'm not really chasing that sound - the Atlanta sound that we hear a lot.
Growing up, I always liked so many different sounds from so many different genres - the different aspects they could bring.
I run a meme type of account on Twitter; I know what my audience is looking for.
I have my name, and I have a growing fan base, so I'm gonna do whatever I want.
I started using the Internet heavily right around the time when memes started to become their own form of entertainment. I started to get into every side of the Internet around 13-ish.
I wanted to stay independent because I figured there was no way I was going to be able to have control to create the type of music I want. I was basically ignoring a lot of labels.
I told college I was gonna take a semester off, but I knew I was never going back. I felt like the walls were closing in on me.
But with country trap, I in no way want to take credit for that. I believe Young Thug would be one of the biggest pioneers in that.
And whenever I do step away from the Internet or the music too long, it's like I have to slowly get back into myself to get back into the groove.
I want to build to that mogul, legendary level.
But the one thing I'll always know is that people don't know what they want until they get it. They didn't know they wanted a song about taking a horse to the old town road in 2019. But they did.
I was always making memes, and now I have music.
Twitter can make a lot of things happen if you get enough retweets.
When I started to make music I wasn't as serious at first.
I just liked making funny videos, content that people would enjoy. The likes and retweets - that was, like, a plus.
My actual writing process? I have to just love the beat before I even write on it. I can't force myself to write to a beat that I'm not immediately loving.
In my music, I'm never going to force anything to try to recreate a moment or something.
I had it just Lil Nas at first because every rapper has a 'lil' in front of his name, and that's funny to me. But then I got stuck with it because I already built a fan base at that point.
I'm a fan of all genres of music. I have a few country songs I like. I'm not gonna say I'm a huge country fan, but, you know, I listen around.
'Old Town Road' came after a period of feeling like I was out of options. I was living with my sister. She was pretty much fed up with me being there.
Live your life to its fullest potential and don't really care too much about what other people think of you.
