A guitar, a microphone, a red beard, and lyrics tinged with a very political color. Within days, Rich Men North of Richmond, and its hitherto totally unknown performer, Oliver Anthony, outclassed Taylor Swift, Morgan Wallen or Olivia Rodrigo to take the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated the week of 26 August and released Tuesday, August 22.
Country at the top of the charts in the United States, it is not uncommon. But according to the weekly Billboard, whose “Hot 100” reflects sales and airplay in streaming and radio – all genres combined, in the United States – this is the first time that a songwriter still completely anonymous a few days earlier achieved such a feat.
Published on August 9 on YouTube, then on Spotify and Apple Music on August 11, the song immediately rose to the top of the country chart on Apple’s music platform. On Tuesday, the title accumulated nearly 16 million plays on Spotify and 32 million views on YouTube.
On a guitar with bluegrass accents, a subgenre originating in Appalachia, the lyrics denounce the harshness of the life of the working class and the most deprived in the face of the privileges of the wealthy. The chorus and title refer to the elites of Washington, the federal capital, located 175 miles “north of Richmond”, the capital of Virginia and former capital of Confederates and supporters of slavery during the Civil War. “Lord, you know it/They just wanna have total control,” chants Oliver Anthony, who, on the other hand, “sold [his] soul/Pushing all day/Working overtime/For pay shit”.
The song’s populist overtones “undeniably lean to the right,” analyzed the New York Times, in an article published on August 21. For its part, the tabloid of conservative magnate Rupert Murdoch, The New York Post, called it on August 11 “a political anthem of blue-collar workers”, repeating a verse which opposes “people on the streets who have no nothing to eat”, whose “dollar is worth nothing/And which is taxed to the bone”, to those who weigh “more than 150 kg”, denouncing in passing “that obese dairy cow” that is “the ‘Welfare state “.
“Digital Guerrilla Tactics”
For the tabloid, the search for a singer, who would live “in a trailer in Farmville, Virginia”, is not limited to the “class struggle”, but draws its inspirations from “the libertarianism which gave birth to the revolution American”.
For its part, the New York Times underlines references to certain conspiracy myths, which in particular attribute to the American political class generalized pedophile practices: “I wish politicians/Took care of minors/And not only of those who are on an island somewhere.”
For the leading New York daily, the “astonishing” success of Oliver Anthony can be explained first of all by the fact that he is aimed “at an audience that considers itself underprivileged”. But, still according to the newspaper, this success is also explained by the “know-how” and “digital guerrilla tactics” that many personalities from “conservative backgrounds” can demonstrate, and who consider themselves “marginalized” by the “cultural industries”.
As soon as it was published, the song was taken up by several influential figures in the American ultra-conservative sphere. The New York Times cites Jack Posobiec, a former soldier turned TV presenter, pro-Trump activist and follower of many conspiracy theories. On August 11, two days after the song was posted on YouTube, Jack Posobiec re-shared the song on his X (formerly Twitter) account, which is usually used for posts relating to the “great replacement” theory, or to statements pro-Kremlin.
Also on August 11, conservative columnist Matt Walsh explained on X that the song’s success was not due to its “political” tone, but to its “raw and authentic” character. Two days later, Joe Rogan, host of the popular podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience” – which claims millions of listeners – uploaded a snippet of the song to his Instagram account, with the only comment: “We can’t fake it. what is genuine. »
“Progressives should also listen”
In the political sphere, the song also had a rapid impact. The elected Republican of Georgia to the Congress Marjorie Taylor Greene, supporter of Donald Trump and follower of conspiracy theories, had hailed on X on August 11 “a hymn to the Americans forgotten by our government”.
On the left, Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Murphy opined on X that “progressives should listen too” to this song against “shitty wages and elite power.”
For his part, the singer “does not see [his] country lasting another generation if [the Americans] continue on this path”. “We need to get back to the roots of what made [our] greatness,” he said Saturday at a free concert in North Carolina.
Oliver Anthony (real name Christopher Anthony Lunsford) does not consider himself “a good musician or a good person”, but simply “an idiot with his guitar”. In a Facebook post on August 17, he describes himself as having “dropped out of high school at 17” before working as a laborer in various factories in Virginia. Consumed for a time by “alcohol” and “depression”, he explains that he then “found faith”. He sets himself the goal of exposing “atrocities” such as “human trafficking” or “pedophilia”, which he says is becoming the “norm”. Despite the meteoric success of his song, the artist claims to “hate the way the Internet has divided us”. “The Internet is a parasite” which he says has “infected the human mind”. The post was liked 134,000 times.