Blake Shelton denies dissing Lil Nas X in new single ‘Hell Right’
Blake Shelton performs onstage during day 1 of the Big Barrel Country Music Festival (Stephen Lovekin/Getty)
Blake Shelton has denied accusations that his latest hit, Hell Right, makes a subtle dig at Lil Nas X‘s hit song Old Town Road.
Shelton’s latest song, featuring fellow country star Trace Adkins, makes an apparent one-line reference to the Billboard Hot 100 record-breaking song.
In Hell Right, Shelton, 43, sings: “Then the girl from the small town took off the ‘Old Town’, put on a little Hank Jr.”
Adkins adds: “Thank God.”
The reference to Old Town left fans convinced that Shelton was dissing Lil Nas X.
One fan tweeted: “Blake Shelton should focus more on standing out in a genre where songwriting is about as simplistic as it gets and every singer sounds exactly the same… but I guess it’s easier to continue doing what he’s doing and also cash in by piggybacking off of Lil Nas X’s fame.”
Blake Shelton should focus more on standing out in a genre where songwriting is about as simplistic as it gets and every singer sounds exactly the same…but I guess it’s easier to continue doing what he’s doing and also cash in by piggybacking off of Lil Nas X’s fame.
— Max Loebach (@MaxLoebach) August 17, 2019
Another tweeted: “blake shelton really thought he could come at lil nas x lol.”
blake shelton really thought he could come at lil nas x lol pic.twitter.com/KIrR2yLRd4— Justin Anchundia (@JustinYeehaw) August 17, 2019
Blake Shelton denies shading Lil Nas X.
But The Voice judge has dismissed claims that he was dissing the Old Town Road singer.
A spokesperson for Shelton told Variety: “It’s absolutely not throwing any kind of shade at Lil Nas X at all.
“Blake says this literally has nothing to do with anything at all except how much the song is played.
“It could have been Achy Breaky Heart or any other (overplayed) song.”
They continued: “Blake talked to Billy Ray and he thought it was funny.”
In a since-deleted tweet, Lil Nas X wrote: “it don’t slap like old town road tho.”
Old Town Road breaks Billboard Hot 100 record.
Lil Nas X‘s remix of Old Town Road, featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, has broken the Billboard Hot 100 record.
It has been at number one for 19 consecutive weeks.
Billy Ray Cyrus (L) and Lil Nas X pose backstage during the 2019 Stagecoach Festival (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
The song surpassed Mariah Carey’s duet with Boyz II Men, One Sweet Day, as well as Daddy Yankee and Luis Fonsi’s Despacito.
Both songs remained at number one for 16 consecutive weeks.
The original version of Old Town Road first made its way into the country charts.
But it was removed by Billboard for not being “country enough”.
To show support for the country artist, Billy Ray Cyrus collaborated with Lil Nas X on the record-breaking remix.
