5 Timeless Branding Lessons from Old Town Road

Raoul Davis is a CEO Branding Expert, a Partner at Ascendant Group and the co-author of FIRESTARTERS: How Innovators, Instigators, and Initiators Can Inspire You to Ignite Your Own Life. Find him on Twitter @CEO_Branding.

The song Old Town Road is a viral sensation. With it, Lil Nas X created a "country trap" masterpiece that blurs the lines of two very different musical genres.

The song itself is not lyrically or melodically complex. In fact, the verse with the most substance was added when Billy Ray Cyrus joined Lil Nas X for a remix.

So this isn't a story about a breakout sound or breakout lyrical message, per se.

Rather this is a story of branding, and how classic branding techniques combined with art can create something wonderful.

So what are the branding takeaways from Old Town Road that you can apply to your own craft. Here are 5 things I've observed:

1. It's an underdog story. Americans love to root for the feisty underdog. We hate Tom Brady until he's down by 20, and then we find ourselves strangely wanting him to come back. When Old Town Road was booted from the country charts, the part of us that loves underdogs kicked into overdrive.
2. Action trumps reaction. When the chart debacle occurred, the world would have given Lil Nas X a pass to vent uncontrollably. He didn't do that. He went back to work. Within days, he had a remix with the country-est of country singers. Instead of fighting the tide, he learned a new swimming stroke.
3. It's simple but smart. The lyrics aren't complex, but the melding of styles is artful. Singing about traditional country images in a hip hop style, provides societal commentary much deeper than the verses could ever articulate. And in the remix, Cyrus sings about traditional hip hop imagery in a country style, which completes the song in a philosophically intriguing way.
4. Mastery of memes wins the day. Lil Nas X is a self-professed social media meme-maker. He knew the types of gags and jokes that he could insert into the lyrics to drive his audience crazy. The humor, hypnotic beat, and overall positive vibe provide a result that makes anyone within listening reach smile (even if only in an ironic/confused way). But smiling is smiling. It changes your body chemistry. ????????
5. It's counter-cultural. The song represents unification during a very divisive time for America. People are starving for a chance to stand together again. I think record labels and Hollywood will hear this message loud and clear. I expect to see a lot more genre-bending and rule-smashing works from the large media empires. Much of it will be experimental just to see what works. And some of it will change our culture for the better!