Old Town Road
Little Nas X feat. Billy Ray Vaughn
Born in Lithia Springs (Georgia), Montero Lamar Hill (born 1999), professionally known as Little Nas X is an American rapper, singer and songwriter who garnered international attention for this country rap single. Nas X says he began to isolate himself from «outside-of-class-activities» during his teenage years, spending much time online in hopes of building a following as an Internet personality in order to promote his work. He landed on music as a path to success and started writing and recording songs in his closet. Late October 2018, he ran across the music that would be Old Town Road buying the beat for the sound anonymously from an online store an online store from Dutch produced YoungKio for $30! (Wikipedia)
Columbia, June 2019
The Git Up
Blanco Brown
Blanco Brown is an American singer, songwriter and record producer who has produced for Chris Brown and Pitbull, Brown’s debut single The Git Up has had over 50 million streams. He was raised in Atlanta, Georgia, listening to hiphop artists such as Outkast but whenever he stayed with his grandmother in Georgia during the summer months, he listened to country music and came to appreciate both forms of music. Brown posted «The Git Up Challenge» together with country artist Lainey Wilson to teach people how to dance. As a result, the song increased in popularity and soon reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart.
Broken Bow Records, April 2019
Pretty Shiny Things
Kassi Ashton
The next big thing: «Born Kassi Meisenheimer in California (Missouri), Kassi was raised listening to country music and participated in musical theater, dance, and beauty pageants. Contemporary pop sounds of Adele and Amy Winehouse strengthened her desire to become a professional musician. Ashton began writing songs when she was fifteen, and after high school she headed to Nashville, enrolling at Belmont University’s School of Music.
UMG, July 2019
Highwomen
The Highwomen
Formed in 2019, the Highwomen are a country music group made up of Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby, Maren Morris and Amanda Shires, all of whom already pursue solo careers. The band performed their first ever full live set at the 60th annual Newport Folk Festival, playing songs from their upcoming album. With If She Ever Leaves Me, described by Carlile as «the first gay country song,» LGTBQ came out of the closet for good in the American country scene. «With the name paying homage to the legendary Highwaymen – consisting of Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson) the Highwomen were originally intended to leave the fourth spot in their line-up vacant to allow other female collaborators to join them.» (Wikipedia). Some have, including Cheryl Crow, Judy Collins, Dolly Parton, Jade Bird or Linda Perry. These ladies are here to stay.
Elektra, August 2019
You Need To Calm Down
Taylor Swift
Of course this song and has already been viewed more than 120 million times but it has a great message, is a lot of fun and shows us, again, that Taylor Swift is not the dumb blonde next door she was made out to be when she first burst out on the scene. This woman knows what she wants and has the means to get it. Next, she will cover or re-issue all of her own old songs – though it is not sure yet whether she can get the rights to them back this way. Here, Taylor stands up for her LGTBQ friends, and she does it with great wit. The video is a masterpiece of styling, choreography and performance (Teen Choice Video of the Year 2019 and nominated for just about everything else), always tongue in cheek, always a little cheeky. I am beginning to really like Taylor. (sgs)
Taylor Swift Productions, Album September 2019