“Seoul Town Road” by Lil Nas X (ft. RM)
“Seoul Town Road” is actually an official remix of Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road”, which according to Billboard has been the biggest hit of 2019. On this particular rendition, he is joined by RM (aka Rap Monster) of the South Korean boy band BTS (another major musical phenomenon of 2019). Indeed the new additions to the song are actually RM’s vocals. And he uses his sections to give a shoutout to “Korea” and the capital of South Korea, “Seoul”, thus the title of this track.
Many of us are already familiar with Nas X’s lyrics, which are actually derived from the first verse and chorus of the original version of “Old Town Road”. They center on the Georgia rapper presenting himself as an individual who prefers the outdoorsy cowboy life as opposed to being a city dweller.
Meanwhile RM contributes three new sections, an intro, verse and outro. Actually his intro and outro are virtually the same, and in them he refers to ‘taking his horse to the Seoul town road’. This reads as a comical statement, as in one that is not meant to be taken seriously outside of RM giving a shoutout to his hometown of Seoul, where he currently resides. And the reference to a horse is likely intended to keep his lyrics within the aforementioned rural theme of the song.
And more along those lines is his actual verse, which centers on the homonym “homi”, which actually sounds like “homey”, a popular word in hip-hop used to refer to one’s buddy. However, in contrast, a “homi” is actually a traditional farming tool (i.e. a hoe) native to Korea. So in the process of bigging up “homis made of steel from Korea”, RM also mentions “riding to the farm” and “grabbing all the corn”. In doing so, he once again operates within the thematic parameters of the original “Old Town Road”.
So conclusively, we can say that “Seoul Road Town” is basically “Old Town Road” with a Korean twist. This is not only accomplished by Lil Nas X featuring a co-star from South Korea but also by that same individual, BTS’ RM, making numerous references to his country of origin.
Have Lil Nas X and RM collaborated before?
No. This is their first collaboration.
Official Remix of “Old Town Road”
“Seoul Town Road” also serves as the fourth official remix of the mega hit “Old Town Road”. But in this particular case, Lil Nas X has ‘promised’ that this will be the last remake.
Writing and Production of “Seoul Town Road”
The producers of “Seoul Town Road” are Trent Reznor, YoungKio and Atticus Ross. They also serve as the song’s co-writers along with Lil Nas X and of course RM.
Release Date of “Seoul Town Road”
“Seoul Town Road” was formally released by Columbia Records on July 24th, 2019.
