Kanye West Got His First Number 1 Song in a Decade Thanks to Lil Nas X
Lil Nas X has risen to become one of hip-hop’s biggest stars of the last decade. As a Gen Z rapper, he represents a new crop of emcees following in the footsteps of Kanye West and others. West even gave his stamp of approval to one of Lil Nas’ biggest songs.
Kanye West produced Lil Nas X’s hit song ‘Industry Baby’
In 2021, West produced Lil Nas’ hit single “Industry Baby” from his debut album Montero. West was a producer before he was a rapper, and Lil Nas considered himself lucky to have the Grammy-winning artist working with him.
Lil Nas has spoken openly about not being accepted by most of his peers in hip-hop due to homophobia. “Maybe a lot of [rappers] just don’t wanna work with me,” he said in a tweet in September 2021.
Getting West to work with him was a dream come true for Lil Nas. He told Amazon Music that having him sign on the project was the most unexpected part of making his whole album.
“Honestly, when Kanye was willing to actually work on stuff without me even asking,” he said. He admitted that getting to work with artists he’s looked up to for years is “a mix of both fangirling and knowing I’m where I’m supposed to be.”
‘Industry Baby’ was Kanye West’s first number 1 single in a decade
In October 2021, “Industry Baby” reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming Lil Nas’ third number-one hit since he burst onto the scene just two years ago. With “Industry Baby” becoming a number-one single, West achieved his first-number one hit since 2011’s “E.T.”
Lil Nas X was asked in July 2021 about how he linked up with West in an interview with Kerwin Frost. “How did that happen? I actually can’t tell you,” he said. “I can’t, not yet at least. It’s just like a thing, you want to protect connections. We talked, he’s a pretty cool guy, super down to earth. He’s super talented. He showed me some stuff. He’s working on some great music.”
“It’s nice to work with somebody who’s done that for so long, so much longevity and still going,” he added. “And like constantly evolving. Not even just evolving, but completely changing into something else. He’s also doing something different and new. Over and over and over again recreating himself.”
Kanye West’s last number 1 song as a producer was 2007’s ‘Stronger’
West only worked on “Industry Baby” as a producer, with no vocals of his own on the track. “E.T.” with Katy Perry was his last number-one hit as an artist, but his last one as a producer dates back even further: 2007’s hit song “Stronger.”
In October 2021, “Stronger” became certified Diamond with over 10 million copies sold — West’s first record to achieve this feat.
