When Mississippi-bred rapper FlyRich Double released his anthemic country rap hit “Yup (On My Tractor)” in 2018, it became an instant hit and attracted over 16 million views initially before it was taken down for copyright reasons.
After getting the official video re-uploaded on YouTube, FlyRich Double began utilizing viral video content and memes as a means of marketing his music.
Then, in 2019 Lil Nas x’s “Old Town Road” took over airwaves and dominated social media timelines due to countless memes promoting the track.
Though he maintains his success isn’t necessarily comparable to or diminished by Lil Nas X’s, FlyRich Double says his status as a pioneer in the field of meme marketing certainly helped the “Industry Baby” rapper gain a foothold early.
“He followed my formula,” FlyRich Double said during his interview on the Diverse Mentality Podcast.
“Yeah he jumped on and he and he did great. Yeah he used it and he seen what I did and he executed. Like yeah I’m not mad at the guy he went crazy. When he first dropped ‘Old Town Road’ I was trying to remix it before it blew up because I knew it was coming. I knew it, I love the honestly I like country Hip Hop man even the guitars too. Just it’s something like Post Malone did what’s that record ‘Go flex’ I think there’s a guitar behind it. I just love that Nelly type of style I like that style man. I don’t know yeah it’s smooth man it’s something different too man.”
FlyRich Double went on to discuss his 2019 project The Hick Hop Album and his latest release, his Double Or Nothing EP.
Watch the full interview below.