After his hit single, “Old Town Road”, dominated the Billboard Hot 100 for nine weeks, Lil Nas X, born Monterio Lamar Hill, has become a country trap phenomenon. With the enlisted feature of country veteran Billy Ray Cyrus and a star-studded music video, the song has landed Hill a record deal with Columbia Records, a new agency, and collaboration with Wrangler. According to NetWorthLeaks, the breakout star is believed to be worth approximately $2.7 million dollars. It’s no surprise that Hill is a newfound millionaire after Billy Ray Cyrus revealed on the Late Late Show with James Cordon that Hill had bought him a Maserati!
November 2018 – February 2019
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Before catapulting into superstardom, Atlanta native Monterio Hill was an unemployed Soundcloud rapper, who spent his time finding hip hop beats on the Internet and recording songs where he lived. Hill eventually discovered and purchased a $30 backing track called “Ninety”, created by Dutch producer, Kiowa Roukema a.k.a. YoungKio. This track, which samples the Nine Inch Nails song, “34 Ghosts IV”, became the backing track for “Old Town Road”. After recording “OTR”, Hill methodically embedded the song in several memes that eventually went viral on Twitter. His genius marketing skills had most notably caused his song to spread like wildfire among influencers on the video social media app, TikTok.
March 2019 – April 2019
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The song began to make waves on the Hot Country Songs Chart on Billboard, charting at number 19 before being disqualified for the country genre in March 2019. The news garnered criticism of Billboard for alleged racial discrimination, which then sparked national attention in the media. Hill’s label reached out to Billy Ray Cyrus to record a remix of the song, which was released on April 5, 2019.
May 2019 – Present
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In May 2019, Hill collaborated with Wrangler, producing modern cowboy apparel. The company received backlash from longtime fans, who threatened to boycott the brand. Despite the uproar, the collaboration line has been doing exceptionally well.
After weeks of performing across the country and recording new music, Hill is slated to release his debut album in June 2019. It is speculated to include songs titled “Titanic”, “Sonic Sh!t”, as well as a song featuring Rico Nasty, and an Old Town Road remix featuring Young Thug.
Hill is also on the cover of the June 2019 issue of Teen Vogue.
