Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor has finally discussed “Old Town Road” at length in a new interview with Rolling Stone’s Kory Grow. “At first when you hear your stuff turned into something else, it always feels awkward because it’s something that intimately came from you in some way,” Reznor said of Lil Nas X’s record-breaking single, which liberally samples NIN’s “34 Ghosts IV” and credits Reznor and Atticus Ross as composers.
Reznor continued, “You feel a little bit violated, you know? And then you get over that and you realize it’s become something else and the [2002] Johnny Cash [cover of ‘Hurt’] is incredible. It’s very flattering.” He also called the single “undeniably hooky,” and, while he doesn’t explicitly say whether he “likes” the track, added, “It’s been stuck in my head enough.”
Read the full interview, titled “Trent Reznor Breaks Silence on ‘Undeniably Hooky’ ‘Old Town Road’” at Rolling Stone.
The Rolling Stone interview marks the first time Trent Reznor has discussed “Old Town Road” in any serious detail. Earlier this year, after Reznor, Atticus Ross, Lil Nas X, and producer YoungKio got nominated for Musical Event of the Year at the 53rd Annual Country Music Association Awards, Reznor put a Western photo of himself and Ross on Instagram with the caption, “New world, new times....”
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