Image via Getty/Frazer Harrison
Lil Nas X's unlikely hit "Old Town Road" has been sitting at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 11 straight weeks, and there's been one question in the back of everyone's mind the whole time:
How the hell is he going to follow this up?
Now, we have our answer. On Friday at midnight, Lil Nas X's debut EP, 7, hit streaming services. With an 18-minute runtime, it's a quick listen, but there's a lot to unpack here. Will Nas X forever be a one-hit wonder (like he's been constantly joking about on Twitter and Instagram)? Or does he have more hits on the way? Which audience will he cater to? Will we still be thinking about this guy a year from now?
Let's get into it. These are the eight biggest takeaways from our first listen of Lil Nas X's 7.
Lil Nas X is for the children
For the past three months, toddlers across America have been playing "Old Town Road" on repeat, which is one of many reasons the song has been breaking so many streaming records. On 7, Lil Nas X caters to this demographic, delivering a collection of fun, goofy songs that will play well with his youngest listeners. On "Panini," he gives us Kidz Bop bars as he raps, "Ayy, Panini, don't you be a meanie/Thought you wanted me to go up/Why you tryna keep me teeny?" Recess is about to go up.
Columbia brought in heavy-hitter collaborators
Oh, you thought Lil Nas X was going to keep rapping over $30 beats from YouTube? Nah, not after signing a major deal with Columbia Records. Instead, he got in the studio with heavy-hitters like Travis Barker, Boi-1da, Dot Da Genius, Ryan Tedder, and Take A Daytrip, who laced him with a set of beats that range from hip-hop to pop punk. And Cardi B came through with the project's lone guest feature outside of Billy Ray Cyrus. Nas X might be new to music, and figuring things out along the way, but his collaborators aren't.
He stumbles on the rock songs
In April, Lil Nas X told Complex that he wasn't going to keep making country rap songs over and over and that he planned to explore other genres. "[My fans will] find out that I'm just not going to stick to that," he explained. "It's not going to happen." On 7, he follows through on that promise, but not always successfully. The EP's worst moment is easily "F9mily (You & Me)," a Travis Barker-produced attempt at pop punk that sounds like a song you'd hear on a Hot Topic retail playlist (but not one of the good ones). His other attempt at a rock-influenced sound, "Bring U Down," also fails. Nas X excels when he's making off-kilter rap that highlights his charisma, not when he's making generic, overproduced rock.
The best songs are produced by Take A Daytrip
On first listen, the clear highlights on 7 (outside of "Old Town Road") are "Panini" and "Rodeo." Both songs are produced by New York duo Take A Daytrip, who linked up with Nas X in the studio this spring. Even if you aren't familiar with them by name, you've heard some of their songs (they have credits on hits like Sheck Wes' "Mo Bamba" and 6ix9ine's "DUMMY"). On 7, their unique take on hip-hop production brings the best out of Nas X, as the duo provide him with bass-heavy beats that give him room to experiment with new ideas. It's clear these guys developed chemistry together and cultivated an open-minded creative environment in the studio, because Nas X sounds more comfortable on these songs than he does at any other point on the EP.
He directly references the 'Billboard' chart controversy
Over the past few months, Lil Nas X has been very self-referential and meta, routinely sharing messages on social media about his potential fate as a one-hit wonder and admitting to bombarding fans with posts about "Old Town Road." On "Kick It," we hear more of that, as he directly references the Billboard chart controversy that helped fuel his success: "Seen you on the TV, heard that Billboard took your chartin' place/Heard your snippets on IG, man, tell me what's the droppin' dates."
The expectations of "Old Town Road" weigh the EP down
7 is a fun debut EP from an interesting new artist who has some good ideas, but it's hurt by the massive expectations placed on it due to the success of "Old Town Road." The new songs never reach the highs of that one, but that's a bar that emerging artists usually aren't asked to reach. If you go into this expecting a fully formed album of No. 1 hits, you'll be disappointed. There are some clunkers here, and some of the songs feel like bland attempts at turning Nas X into an artist who can appeal to anyone and everyone. But if you remove expectations from the equation and hear the potential he shows when he tries new things on songs like "Panini" and "Rodeo," it's a worthwhile release from a promising young artist.
...but “Panini” will be successful
One of the main questions that everyone's been asking is: "Will Lil Nas X be a one-hit wonder?" Of course, none of these songs will be as massively successful as "Old Town Road," but he does have potential for a minor hit with "Panini." Opening with a catchy whistle, the song has an off-kilter (but immediately addictive) vibe similar to "Old Town Road." Sure, the hook barely makes sense ("Ayy, Panini, don't you be a meanie"), and the melody borrows heavily from Nirvana, but it's the kind of song that burrows inside your brain and never leaves, whether you like it or not. And at less than two minutes, it's perfect for streaming success (a fact that Nas X jokingly acknowledged on Twitter). The kids are going to love it.
It will do massive first-week numbers and receive immediate certifications
Everyone has an opinion about this EP, but one thing will be undeniable: the commercial success. With both the original and remixed versions of "Old Town Road" on its tracklist, the project will likely be eligible for immediate gold and platinum certifications because of the huge numbers the song has already accumulated. The EP will also likely do well on the charts, too, as curiosity will drive hordes of listeners (fans and skeptics alike) to give it a spin. The only thing that might hurt it on the charts is its short seven-song tracklist. So just how well will it do? We won't find out if he debuts at No. 1 until next week, but immediately after its release, the album was already No. 1 on Apple Music (a fact Nas X proudly shared with his followers).