Album Review: Lil Nas X Drops a Melting Pot with '7' EP
The human manifestation of the cowboy emoji tries on a few new pairs of boots.
Written by Thomas Galindo
Photo courtesy of Lil Nas X
After 11 weeks at the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, Lil Nas X has fought through his fair share of controversy and stepped into the limelight. Controversy such as the clouded theory of him being a former Nicki Minaj Twitter stan, and then those same Barbz spamming his tweets to stream Nicki’s new music instead of his. Controversy such as the debate of whether Billboard should consider his smash hit “Old Town Road” a country song, while he topped the Billboard Country chart for over three months. Controversy of whether or not he will be rap’s next one-hit wonder. Time to put the controversy to rest. 7 EP is here, and Lil Nas X used some peculiar elements to form his latest project.
The 19-minute EP starts with the song that propelled him to fame: the country-trap “Old Town Road - Remix” (feat. Billy Ray Cyrus). While the infamous track was probably included in order to squeeze as many streams out of it as possible, the new content in the project is sandwiched between the remix and its original version, simply titled, “Old Town Road.” The second song, “Panini,” was released early as a single on June 20, with the rest of the EP released later that same night. Every song on the EP was accompanied by visuals released on YouTube, created by upcoming animators that Lil Nas X found through Twitter.
Although Lil Nas X has not yet developed a cohesive sound, he has developed a methodology to his music. With the few songs in his EP, he does a great job of making his music innocent, light-hearted, and playful. In “Panini,” the chorus, “Ayy Panini, don’t you be a meanie / Thought you wanted me to go up / Why you tryna keep me teeny?” not only uses child-like vocabulary, but also references the Cartoon Network show “Chowder.” Building on “Old Town Road,” this diction adds to the sense of novelty that Lil Nas X brings to his music. His particular style keeps the song from coming off as corny, while avoiding the intensive microscope of fans of lyricism. Lil Nas’s appeal expands way beyond modern hip-hop, with parents, country fans, and young kids enjoying his music, and “Chowder” does a great job in not excluding any of those fans.
Photo courtesy of Columbia Records
“F9mily (You & Me)” sounds like it could be the theme song of a Nickelodeon sitcom about two siblings trying to make a broken family work or even a song before the climax of the non-existent Camp Rock 3, where Demi Lovato’s character tries to convince Joe Jonas’s character to buy into a team effort. In “Rodeo,” Lil Nas and Cardi B bounce off of each other well with allusions about being in control of a relationship, and Cardi’s charismatic verse adds great contrast to the mellow hook offered by Lil Nas. While the song includes themes of spite and maturity, his innocence shines through again as he sounds awkward when referencing sex, singing, “Ima take you from this party / We might go and have some sex.” Whether by accident or actual intent, this adds to the innocuous nature of the music on this project. Along with his playful, meme-filled Twitter presence, Lil Nas’s music paints a picture of a very wide-eyed, young kid, just finding a place in the music scene — which is exactly what he is. As time goes on and he grows as an artist, this may start to seem less sincere, but it does not take away from his current music in this project. His innocent outlook accurately depicts where he is in his career and the age group he represents.
What also perpetuates this storyline is that every song is practically a different genre. Each song tells a story of an experience he has had since blowing up in the last several months. The upbeat, heavily-produced pop track “Panini” shows him pleading to his day-one fans to tell him what they want from him, since many are now trying to avoid his bandwagon following. The hip-hop track “Kick It” tells a third-person story of a guy who sold him weed before he blew up. The man tells him that even though Lil Nas is now a world-famous musician, the man still wants to be in his life, and Lil Nas should continue to buy his weed. Anecdotes like this and the one in “C7osure (You Like),” where he explains to someone close to him that their selfishness stifles his potential, give a glimpse into what life has been like since his rise to fame. While the stories he tells aren’t as clear and thorough as some listeners may wish, the brevity of the songs do the job of keeping the listener’s attention.
From the quasi-showtune of “F9mily” to the rock ballad of “C7osure (You Like),” Lil Nas X brings a solid balance of honesty and light-heartedness. In such a short runtime, 7 EP shows a lot of character development for the 20-year-old, and although he hasn’t yet mastered any genre or perfected any craft, the motivation behind his music is surely authentic. This project momentarily staves off critics and keeps Lil Nas trending upward, and “Rodeo” and “Panini” will surely put the “one-hit wonder” claims to rest. But until Lil Nas X releases a full-length project, his future in the industry is still uncertain.