AQA A-Level Media Studies - Old Town Road

Context

Removed from the country billboard for ‘not being country enough’ - sparked controversy around racism and homophobia in the country scene

Released independently - rereleased through Columbia Records featuring Billy Ray Cyrus (alongside a music video)

Gained popularity through social media

Shots and techniques

Title and small print - creates a cinematic effect in the intro

Iconography of western films (yellow serif fonts, grassy plains, horse riding, bag with dollar symbol etc.) - considered a parody

Whip pan - excitement and chaos

Tracking shots - indicating protagonist

Western genre

Defies conventions - mainly black cast with a black protag as well as black sheriffs

Billy Ray Cyrus

Known for his country music - attempting to validate the song as country - “you’re with me this time”

Star power

Baudrillard - Postmodernism

Could be considered heightened reality?

Has all of the elements of the original product/style (Westerns) but exaggerates and combines with elements from other genres

Costume change/Allusion

Sense of power and embracing change for LNX

Allusion to “The Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy” album where David Allen Coe iconically wore a cowboy suit covered in rhinestones - further attempting to solidify the song as country as it shows LNX’s appreciate and understanding of country music’s history

Artist/celebrity cameos - Intertextuality

RIco Nasty, Vince Staples, Diplo, Chris Rock etc.

Particularly relating to the hip-hop community - further drawing bridges between hip-hop and country

This is considered ‘paratext’

Strauss - Binary Oppositions

The transition from old to new (Horse vs Red Maserati and Plain vs shiny and glamorous costumes)

Trying to modernise and connect country music to hip-hop

Other intertextuality

LNX doing a drag race on a horse - parody of Fast and Furious

Line dancing - allusion

Mentions and representations of different brands (e.g. Malboro and Gucci) - allusion

Old people in the bingo hall - allusion to stereotypical country fans and record label/billboard executives

Todorov - Narratology

Equilbrium - LNX lives a dangerous life and is robbing a bank

Disruption - LNX teleported to the modern day

Recognition - LNX attempts to modernise himself (red sports car and new take on cowboy outfits)

Repair - LNX playing live music at the bingo hall

New equilbrium - Wins over the bingo players (representation of the music industry executives)

Judith Butler - Gender Performativity

BRC - lyrics mentioning the Malboro Man and driving a red Maserati - these actions would define BRC as masculine

LNX and BRC changing into flashy cowboy costumes could be seen as challenging the dominant ideology by incorporating elements of femininity

LNX receiving hate for coming out as gay a year later - goes against audience’s pre-conceived conceptions of artists within both hip-hop and country genres

Gauntlett - Identity

Newer media products offer more diverse and in-depth representations - this gives audience more choice over how they’re identity is influenced by the media they consume

Old Town Road provides a multitude of unconventional and detailed representations

Cowboys/Sheriffs - black sheriffs and cowboys and changing outfits into more ‘glamorous’ versions (this also plays into gender representation with masc vs fem)