Lil Nas X - 7 (2019)

When a new artist is coming off a massive Number One breakout hit, the burning question is always whether or not they can shake that multi-platinum devil off their back and prove they have something more to say that can keep our attention. With Lil Nas X that’s an especially big problem: of the hundreds of millions of people who’ve fallen in love with “Old Town Road,” virtually none of them had previously heard of the Atlanta-born memelord-turned-artist behind his borderline-gimmicky country-rap smash. For being an EP whipped together quickly in an effort to beat the one-hit wonder clock, Lil Nas X’s 7 is, above everything, a solid, promising start. Still it leaves more questions than answers about what and who Lil Nas X wants to be.

With 7, instead of blurring the country and rap lines further, he takes the well-trod path to the rock and rap border. Like country-rap, rap-rock is a genre we’ve endured for a long time, maybe too long. Lil Nas X’s version is much more nuanced, if a tad straight-laced. He interpolates Nirvana’s “In Bloom” on the anti-hater, pro-sandwich anthem “Panini,” calls up Travis Barker of Blink 182 for the punk-ish “F9mily” and enlists Ryan Tedder for the 2009 Coachella-core “Bring U Down.” Even the non-rock star co-signed tracks have a hint of guitar-and-drum driven heaviness, especially the twisted, brooding Mariachi tones of the Cardi B-assisted, surefire hit “Rodeo.” Above all, the mid-Aughts pop-rock sound of the EP feels reminiscent of early, Kid Cudi’s collaboration with MGMT in its carefully balanced earnestness and playfulness.