“Industry Baby” by Lil Nas X (ft. Jack Harlow)

The title of this song (“Industry Baby”) serves as a poetic way of Lil Nas X saying that he has made it big in the music industry. And he proceeds to drop a number of lyrics to prove the point. For instance, on top of being well-paid via his musical endeavors, the vocalist has a couple of Grammys under his belt. 

Additionally he references his plaques, quite humbly actually, by stating that he has a “couple” of them. Well in reality, four of the six singles the gay rapper has released thus far have gone mutli-platinum in the United States. And this is not to mention the plethora of other countries in which they have also been multi-certified.

The Champions

In the pre-chorus, Nas X dedicates this song to “the champions”, which we would presume, generally speaking, are the successful people like himself. 

He then proceeds to make a somewhat confusing statement, proclaiming that ‘he ain’t loss since he’s been gay’. But all lyrics considered, it would appear that he is saying something like even being openly-gay hasn’t stopped him from succeeding. 

Then Lil points to the fact that many people thought he would be a one-hit wonder when he first came out with “Old Town Road“. But instead, he has managed to put together a string of pretty big hits.

Chorus of “Industry Baby”

Meanwhile, the chorus itself seems to be based on the idea of Nas physically challenging his rivals. Or rather, what he’s saying is that he’s not afraid of anyone, so if they want conflict, they should bring it. But seemingly, he is making this statement in a musical context. This is more akin to a battle rap, if you will, as opposed to actually threatening opps.

This idea also leads us into the post-chorus. Here Nas X is saying, in an indirect way, that he wants the props that he deserves for his fearlessness. Also as far as his haters and doubters go they should be on alert, as now he’s finna to jump back on the music scene fulltime, i.e. drop an entire album.

Even More Success

And it is that selfsame project he begins the second verse talking about, how he is obsessed with it blowin’ up. He wants his upcoming tunes to be just as successful as the earlier ones. 

Lil Nas also desires to drop a collab with Nicki Minaj, a female rapper whom he has expressed admiration for in times past. And as far as the hatin’ rappers are concerned, X is able to tout that he has personally transcended the hip-hop genre. 

Indeed at this point he is already a certified pop star in general, the likes of Justin Bieber, who he cites in that regard.

A Proud Homosexual

The vocalist also proceeds to clarify that he does not in fact sleep with women. But these days, it’s like many of the guys are “b–ches” anyway. So basically, he uses his homosexuality to kinda sorta throw a diss at his rivals. 

And in terms of those who believe he has fallen off, such is not the case. Rather it’s like he’s just taking his time in terms of dropping “new sh*t”. And another manifestation off his massive success has actually been being slapped with quite a few lawsuits, you know, since it’s only rich people who ever get sued.

Then the third verse, which is held down by Jack Harlow, fades out due to the song being an incomplete leak at the time. But once it is updated, we will analyze the full version also.

Release of “Industry Baby”

This is a song which fans of Lil Nas X first became aware of in October of 2020, as he aired a snippet of it on Twitter. Then he teased it again via snippet circa early July, 2021. Shortly thereafter an extended solo version of the song leaked online, which is the rendition we are analyzing today. 

Presumably this will not be the final product featured on his debut album “Montero”, which is to come out later this summer. And that’s because Jack Harlow’s verse, which serves as the third overall, fades out shortly after it commences.

Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow

“Industry Baby” marks the first official collaboration between Nas and Jack Harlow. The former burst on the scene with his debut single “Old Town Road” in 2018, a track which proceeded to convincingly break the Billboard Hot 100 record by remaining at number 1 for 19 weeks. 

Then Nas X built on that success, proving himself not to be a one-hit wonder as many presumed, by following it up with a handful of other commercially-viable songs, in addition to promptly becoming sort of a cultural icon, especially as far as the LGBT community is concerned.

Meanwhile, Harlow is one of the top up-and-coming, shall we say White rappers at the moment. Although his discography dates back to 2011, he is considered a newjack in the game, perhaps due to the fact that he’s still in his early 20s. For instance, Harlow was named a member of the XXL Freshman Class as recently as 2020. 

That was also the year that witnessed Jack collaboration with some of the biggest names in the rap genre, such as G-Eazy, Big Sean and Weezy F. Baby himself.

Lil Nas X took home the aforementioned Grammys in 2020. They were both for the “Old Town Road (Remix)”, i.e. the version featuring Billy Ray Cyrus which accounted for 18 of the 19 afore-noted weeks at number 1. And those Grammys were in the categories of Best Music Video and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.

Charts’ Performances

“Industry Baby” hit #1 spots in the following countries:

It garnered more spots worldwide on the Top-10 charts.