Lil Nas X - Old Town Road: Blog tasks

 Lil Nas X - Old Town Road: Blog tasks

Background and cultural contexts

Read this Vox feature and podcast transcript on Lil Nas X and Old Town Road. Make sure you read the whole thing - including the podcast transcript - then answer the following questions: 

1) What is the big debate regarding Old Town Road and genre?

2) What do you learn about the background of Lil Nas X and Old Town Road from the podcast transcript?

3) What is the Yeehaw agenda?

4) How did the story become a debate about race in America?

5) How does Charlie Harding sum up the whole thing in the final part of the podcast transcript?


Now read this Salon feature on Lil Nas X and LGBTQ+ identity. Answer the following questions:

1) How did Lil Nas X announce his sexuality on social media?

2) Why does the article describe Old Town Road as 'genre-blurring'? 

3) How has country music demonstrated the social change taking place in American culture and society? 


Old Town Road textual analysis

Watch the video again and answer the following questions. Use your notes from our in-class analysis to help you:

1) How is the narrative features used in the music video? Apply narrative theory here.

Levi-Strauss: binary opposition suggest the music videos time period as the audience was shown many examples such as, the horse and the car(how transport has changed over time).the narrative starts in a middle of an action-media res; this is an example of disequilibrium.

2) What examples of genre conventions and intertextuality can you find in the video?

An intertextuality of the music video is that Billy Ray Cyrus is a country music legend however to subvert thay they made him wear a pink suit as they would refer to that as less masculine.
The opening scene was a western movie genre as you can hear it through the music and sound effect and costume etc.
There was a screen within screen when Lil Nas X time travels and ends up on a random street where they all have phones recording themselves dancing.

3) How are technical codes used to create meanings in the video? Analyse camerawork, editing and mise-en-scene and make specific reference to moments in the video.


4) How are representations of race and ethnicity constructed in the video?

At the beginning of the music video the cast was entirely a black cast however at the end of the music video the characters were predominantly white which was a scene of cultural conviviality to maybe appease the white audience.

5) What other representations can you find in the video? You may wish to comment on gender, sexuality or America/American culture. 


Old Town Road Media Factsheet

Finally, read Media Factsheet #262 - Old Town Road. You'll need to log in to Google using your Greenford Google account to access this. Read the factsheet and answer the following questions: 

1) Who are the celebrities that appear in cameos in the video? 

2) Choose three of the key terms defined on the first page of the factsheet and write the definitions here. Focus on terms you are unfamiliar with.

3) How did Lil Nas X use social media to boost his own popularity and the success of the video?

4) Look at the video analysis on page 3. What conventions of the western can be found in the video? 

5) How does the video begin? 

6) What does the factsheet suggest regarding the modern-day part of the video? 

7) How can the video be read as a reinforcement of capitalism and the American dream? 

8) How does the factsheet suggest the video creates a hyperreality? 

9) How is masculinity represented in the video? 

10) Look at the final page. What theories are suggested for this CSP and which do you think are the most useful? 

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