Meaning of “Panini” by Lil Nas X

First off let it be noted that this track is named after a character, “Panini”, who starred on a children’s television cartoon. That character, as described by Lil Nas X himself, is “a representation of fans… who love you when you’re small.” However, the moment you make it into limelight, they aren’t feeling you as much.” As such, the rapper is addressing this song towards likeminded fans of his.

Thus far the rise of Lil Nas X is the musical-success story of 2019. As of the release of “Panini” his previous single, “Old Town Road” (the Billy Ray Cyrus version) has held down the number 1 position on the Billboard Hot 100 for 11 weeks. Meanwhile, relatively-speaking nobody even knew who he was before “Old Town Road” was dropped late in 2018. So his life has changed dramatically in the past few months. And in this track, he has a tiff with fans who were there before he blew up but have now turned on him.

And in that regard, he is saying that they should not hate on him for blowing up. Indeed he was under the impression that such people actually wanted to see him succeed. Instead they seem more interested in ‘keeping him teeny’, as in small-time. And while he is not going to let the disposition of such individuals alter his career trajectory and aspiration for a “big Benz” (i.e. riches), he still sympathizes with them. Thus he is entreating these fans to ‘just say what they want from him’, apparently so that he can make an attempt to satisfy their demands.

“Panini” samples a Nirvana song

This song samples Nirvana’s 1992 song “In Bloom”. Nas X has stated that this was done unintentionally, as in he created an original melody similar to the one on “In Bloom” without ever having heard the song. However, on the day “Panini” was released (20 June 2019), he still took to Twitter to thank Frances Bean Cobain for allowing him to the sample.

Writer(s) and Producer(s) of “Panini”

The iconic Kurt Cobain (who wrote “In Bloom”) is credited as a co-writer of “Panini” along with Dot Da Genius, David Biral, Denzel Baptiste (the latter two of Take a Daytrip) and of course Lil Nas X.

Meanwhile the song was produced by Take a Daytrip, a New York-based musical duo. According to Lil Nas X, “Panini” is actually the first song he ever recorded in a standard, professional-studio environment.

Source of Song’s Title

The titular “Panini” was a character on the television cartoon “Chowder” (2007-2010).

Release Date and EP

“Panini” came out on June 20, 2019 – a day before the album it is featured on, Lil Nas X’ s debut EP 7. On this same EP appears the monstrous hit “Old Town Road (Remix)”.