7 (Lil Nas X EP)

7 is the second extended play (EP) and major label debut by American rapper and singer Lil Nas X. The EP was released on June 21, 2019, by Columbia Records. It was preceded by the Billboard Hot 100 number one single "Old Town Road" (both the original version and Billy Ray Cyrus remix), "Panini", and "Rodeo". The extended play features guest appearances from Cyrus, Travis Barker, and Cardi B. Despite receiving a mixed reception from critics, 7 received six Grammy Award nominations, including a nomination for Album of the Year. At under 19 minutes, it is the shortest release to be nominated for the award in Grammy Award history.

7
EP by
Lil Nas X
ReleasedJune 21, 2019 (2019-06-21)
Recorded
  • December 2018 – June 2019
Genre
Length18:44
LabelColumbia
Producer
Lil Nas X chronology
October 31st
(2018)		 7
(2019)		 Montero
(2021)
Singles from 7
  1. "Old Town Road"
    Released: December 3, 2018
  2. "Old Town Road (Remix)"
    Released: April 5, 2019
  3. "Panini"
    Released: June 20, 2019
  4. "Rodeo (Remix)"
    Released: January 27, 2020

Background

While recording the album Lil Nas X deliberately avoided producing an album full of country rap songs, not wanting to be pigeonholed by the success of "Old Town Road".[2] Despite this, he would include one other country song, "Rodeo", only after producers Take a Daytrip earned his trust by giving him the beat for "Panini".[2] Several trap beats were also sent to the singer for consideration, which he rejected as he did not want to be a "trap artist".[2]

While in the process of recording the songs Lil Nas X posted previews of both "Panini" and "Rodeo" to his social media accounts before either song were completely written. This caused some problems for producers Take a Daytrip as the popularity of these snippets meant that much of the work had to be "locked in" so the resulting songs would match the previews.[3]

Lil Nas X announced the 7 EP on May 18, 2019, on all social media platforms along with its June 2019 release date.[4] This teaser included the snippet of a song described by Spin's Rob Arcand as "singing a trap-pop hook through a slurred AutoTune drawl".[5] Lil Nas X stated that the EP would include a collaboration with "one of [his] favorite artists ever".[6]

Singles

"Old Town Road" was released as the lead single from the EP on December 3, 2018, peaking at the top of the US Billboard Hot 100. A remix featuring Billy Ray Cyrus was released as a single on April 5, 2019, spending a record 19 weeks at the top.[7][8]

"Panini" was released as the third single from the EP on June 20, 2019, the day before the EP was released, and would peak at number five on the Hot 100.[9] [10]

"Rodeo", originally with Cardi B, was not made a single until a remix featuring Nas was released on January 27, 2020, one day after it was performed at the Grammys.[11] The remix was used for the music video in which Nas makes an appearance.

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic57/100[12]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[13]
ConsequenceC+[14]
Pitchfork4.3/10[15]
Rolling Stone[16]

7 received mixed reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, 7 received an average score of 57, based on 11 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[12]

Mikael Wood at the Los Angeles Times considered it among the best debut efforts of the year, calling the songs on 7 "vivid, funny, full of feeling and supremely catchy, even if they don't quite offer a clear picture of who Lil Nas X is offstage or off-screen."[17] Brittany Spanos, writing for Rolling Stone praised the EP's "carefully balanced earnestness and playfulness," but agreed with Wood: "Still, it leaves more questions than answers about what and who Lil Nas X wants to be."[16] In a mixed review, Garrett Gravley at Consequence of Sound described the EP as a "musical Chex Mix — lightweight and best consumed in selective increments, but also strangely addictive."[14]

Other reviews were more negative. Brian Josephs at Entertainment Weekly criticized its "failed versatility", summarizing by saying, "With 7, there's too little conviction to tell if a full project is something Lil Nas X wants to do. At best, there's a set of half-considered songs."[18] Alphonse Pierre gave it a poor review for Pitchfork, commenting, "For the entirety of 7, it's unclear if Lil Nas X actually likes music [...] The EP ends up being a set of nothingness [...] content made for the sake of justifying its existence."[15]

Accolades
Accolades for 7
Award Year Category Result
Grammy Awards[19] 2020 Album of the Year Nominated

Commercial performance

7 debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 with 77,000 album-equivalent units (including 4,000 pure album sales).[20] In its second week the EP remained at number two on Billboard 200 with 62,800 units.[21]

Track listing

Adapted from Tidal.[22]

7 track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Old Town Road" (Remix, featuring Billy Ray Cyrus)
2:37
2."Panini"
1:55
3."F9mily (You & Me)" (with Travis Barker)
  • Barker
2:43
4."Kick It"
  • Hill
  • Andre Robertson
  • Darien Bankhead
  • Yinka Bankole
  • Lil Nas X
  • Bizness Boi
  • Fwdslxsh
  • Alone In A Boy Band
  • Danny Win
2:22
5."Rodeo" (with Cardi B)
  • Take a Daytrip
  • Lenzo
  • Chell
2:39
6."Bring U Down"
  • Tedder
  • Skelton
2:12
7."C7osure (You Like)"
2:23
8."Old Town Road"
  • YoungKio
  • Ross
  • Reznor
1:53
Total length:18:44

Notes

  • ^[a] signifies a miscellaneous producer
  • ^[b] signifies an uncredited producer

Samples

Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal.[22]

Musicians
  • Lil Nas X – lead vocals, production (track 4)
  • Cardi B – lead vocals (track 5)
  • Billy Ray Cyrus – featured vocals (track 1)
  • Jocelyn "Jozzy" Donald – background vocals (track 1)
  • Ryan Tedder – background vocals (track 6), production (track 6), bass (track 6), drums (track 6), guitar (track 6)
  • Zach Skelton – background vocals (track 6), production (track 6), bass (track 6), drums (track 6), electric guitar (track 6)
  • YoungKio – production (tracks 1, 8)
  • Atticus Ross – production (tracks 1, 8)
  • Trent Reznor – background vocals, production (tracks 1, 8)
  • Take a Daytrip – production (tracks 2, 5)
  • Travis Barker – production (track 3)
  • Bizness Boi – production (track 4)
  • fwdslxsh – production (track 4)
  • Alone In A Boy Band – production (track 4)
  • Roy Lenzo – production (track 5)
  • Russ Chell – production (track 5)
  • Boi-1da – production (track 7)
  • Allen Ritter – production (track 7)
  • Dot da Genius – co-production (track 2)
  • Abaz – miscellaneous production (track 7)
  • X-Plosive – miscellaneous production (track 7)
  • Jahaan Sweet – miscellaneous production (track 7)
  • Stephen "Johan" Feigenbaum – strings (track 4)
  • Yasmeen Al-Mazeedi – violin (track 4)
  • Eddie Benjamin – bass (track 6)
  • Danny Win – saxophone (track 4)[23]

Technical
  • Andrew "VoxGod" Bolooki – vocal production, mixing (track 1)
  • Joe Grasso – engineering (track 1)
  • Thomas Cullison – assistant engineering (track 2), recording (track 4)
  • Andy Rodríguez – assistant engineering (track 4)
  • Jeremie Inhaber – assistant engineering (track 6)
  • Robin Florent – assistant engineering (track 6)
  • Scott Desmarais – assistant engineering (track 6)
  • Cinco – recording (track 1)
  • Denzel Baptiste – recording (track 2, 5)
  • Matt Malpass – recording (track 3)
  • Jordan "DJ Swivel" Young – mixing (tracks 2, 5)
  • Joe Grasso – mixing (tracks 3, 4)
  • Eric Lagg – mastering (tracks 1, 3, 4)
  • Colin Leonard – mastering (tracks 2, 5)

Charts

Certifications
Certifications for 7
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[55] 3× Platinum 120,000‡
Canada (Music Canada)[56] 2× Platinum 154,000[57]
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[58] Gold 10,000‡
France (SNEP)[59] Gold 50,000‡
Mexico (AMPROFON)[60] Gold 30,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ)[61] Gold 7,500‡
Norway (IFPI Norway)[62] Platinum 20,000*
Poland (ZPAV)[63] Platinum 20,000‡
Singapore (RIAS)[64] Gold 5,000*
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[65] Platinum 20,000‡
United States (RIAA)[66] 2× Platinum 2,000,000‡

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References
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  2. Elias Leight; Brendan Klinkenberg; Charles Holmes (June 21, 2019). "How Do You Follow Up 'Old Town Road?' If You're Lil Nas X, You Don't Try". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
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