The Brief: When music artist, Lil Nas X, announced his upcoming "Old Town Road" music video, the internet didn't waste any time memeing a still-image from said video.
DEEP DIVE
Hang on to your (cowboy) hats!
Yee Haw fans rejoiced when Lil Nas X, the voice behind “Old Town Road”, announced that the BillBoard Hot 100 song would be getting a music video. He made his announcement via Twitter with a still-image, assumingly from the music video.
Old Town Road, Friday! pic.twitter.com/UWLeVzROLV
— nope (@LilNasX) May 14, 2019
Lil Nas X’s song “Old Town Road” went viral earlier this year when it was used for a popular TikTok meme, titled the YeeHaw Challenge. It is perhaps the song that jumpstarted the internet’s current obsession with cowboy-related memes and content.
What with the popularity of this song, it’s no surprise that the memes soon followed.
The new Indiana Jones movie looks great https://t.co/igc1kYTyjs
— 𝕏𝕆 𝕊𝕚𝕣𝕖𝕟 💋 (@XOSiren_) May 14, 2019
me looking in my empty pockets realizing im broke again https://t.co/PczHAKXL2a
— Arturo (@orutraaa) May 14, 2019
In some iterations, the meme conveys a sense of emptiness or depth perception. Most versions are simply captioned for LOLs.
What fast food sees as soon as you leave the drive thru https://t.co/3DWkQImzcr
— matt crouse (@jive_turkey69) May 14, 2019
Me looking at the last Pringle in the can https://t.co/wILUkqa3WG
— Pat (@UziBetter) May 14, 2019
This Twitter user’s meme roasts a certain NSFW Ant-Man vs. Thanos theory.
Ant-Man about to take on Thanos https://t.co/dzwswKregT
— Burgener? I barely know ‘er! (@Tylerburgener) May 14, 2019
More than one gamer interpreted the meme as a video game.
New Red Dead game looks CRAZY pic.twitter.com/ONv2lIf6gS
— john (@johnkrug_) May 14, 2019
CREEPER?! AWWW MAN 🥶 pic.twitter.com/mihOLLiX5a
— ultih (@ultih_) May 14, 2019
This user went as far to design their own movie poster.
— zen(ith) (@spideyvs) May 14, 2019
Funnily enough, there have been a number of memes and responses pointing out the similarities between Lil Nas X’s photo and the movie poster for 2003 film, Holes.
— ＬＶＮＤＲ ＴＯＷＮ (@lvndrtown) May 14, 2019
— Marcos Melendez (@bizgamer9) May 14, 2019
Talk about a #TBT!
"Old Town Road" really the gift that keeps on giving 🐴
The song has inspired ANOTHER viral meme: https://t.co/1NGMDKnOiH pic.twitter.com/zO7NrUOpDB
— Complex Music (@ComplexMusic) May 14, 2019
Lil Nas X – Old Town Road (feat. Billy Ray Cyrus) (Eternal Zoom Remix) coming soon #music #EDM #OldTownRoad #OldTownRoadRemix #MEMES #remix pic.twitter.com/BE4EzcKARR
— Eternal Zoom (@eternal_zoom) May 14, 2019
It seems this music video is exactly what fans of the song have been begging for. There are a few existing music videos for “Old Town Road” including the Red Dead Redemption version..
And another with emojis.