How ‘Old Town Road’ Hacked the Algorithm and Became a Billboard #1 Song

If you’ve listened to the radio in the past few months, you’ve likely heard of the song Old Town Road by the rapper Lil Nas X. It’s a catchy songs that lies in the midpoint between country and rap, an uncommon combination but one that’s quite successful with executed correctly. At the time of this posting, the song is on its ninth consecutive week atop the Billboard Hot 100. This is an impressive feat that only a handful of songs have ever accomplished, but it wasn’t luck. Lil Nas X figured out how to make a song successful and put a plan into motion. The important thing about his plan: it worked.

Before Old Town Road, Lil Nas X was a digital hustler. He had accumulated some recognition as a Twitter personality and creating a Facebook page curating viral content. On Twitter, he had a fan account named “NasMaraj,” a name paying homage to rappers Nas and Nicki Minaj. Most importantly, he embraced new features on social media sites. An example of this would be his scenario threads on Twitter. These choose-your-own-adventure tweets gained a lot of attention while engaging users. It also took advantage of a new Twitter “thread” feature as soon as it was released.

He’d eventually start releasing music on Soundcloud where he gained some attention, but not enough to actually chart on Billboard. Lil Nas X…