Earlier this year, when “Old Town Road” was just beginning its journey as a huge moment in music history, Lil Nas X joined a bunch of different performers on stage so he could take a couple minutes and perform “Old Town Road.” One of those was Anderson .Paak, whose Boston Calling set he crashed in May to perform his monolithic single. Now those names are paired together once again, as .Paak decided to cover “Old Town Road” during his stop at the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge.
Naturally, .Paak put a spin on the song and transformed it into something else entirely. Accompanied by The Free Nationals, .Paak plays the drums to lead into the chorus, sung by a pair of soulful singers. The rendition maintains that energy throughout the first verse, with .Paak rapping and the chilled-out instrumental guiding the proceedings. .Paak also took a minute mid-song to adopt a British accent and give some shout-outs before wrapping up the tune with a final chorus.
The cover comes at a time when Lil Nas X has moved on from “Old Town Road” to focus on “Panini,” as he just dropped a new version of it featuring DaBaby.
Watch Anderson .Paak perform “Old Town Road” above.
