Music historian can discuss country-rap hybrid ‘Old Town Road’ controversy

Atlanta-based artist Lil Nas X’s hit song, “Old Town Road,” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week. The honor followed Billboard’s controversial decision to remove the song from its country chart. Billboard defended the decision over the weekend, saying the song “does not embrace enough elements of today's country music to chart in its current version.” 

Susan Thomas, director of the American Music Research Center, is available for media interviews about the controversy and how we define genres in music. During her time as a professor at the University of Georgia, she co-directed the Athens Music Project which explored the music histories of the region just outside Atlanta.
susan.thomas-1@colorado.edu

Contact:
Sam Linnerooth, CU Boulder media relations
sam.linnerooth@colorado.edu
303-492-6431