7 (Lil Nas X EP)

While recording the album Lil Nas X deliberately avoided producing an album full of country rap songs, not wanting to be pigeonholed by the success of "Old Town Road".^[2] Despite this, he would include one other country song, "Rodeo", only after producers Take a Daytrip earned his trust by giving him the beat for "Panini".^[2] Several trap beats were also sent to the singer for consideration, which he rejected as he did not want to be a "trap artist".^[2]

While in the process of recording the songs Lil Nas X posted previews of both "Panini" and "Rodeo" to his social media accounts before either song were completely written. This caused some problems for producers Take a Daytrip as the popularity of these snippets meant that much of the work had to be "locked in" so the resulting songs would match the previews.^[3]

Lil Nas X announced the 7 EP on May 18, 2019, on all social media platforms along with its June 2019 release date.^[4] This teaser included the snippet of a song described by Spin's Rob Arcand as "singing a trap-pop hook through a slurred AutoTune drawl".^[5] Lil Nas X stated that the EP would include a collaboration with "one of [his] favorite artists ever".^[6]

"Old Town Road" was released as the lead single from the EP on December 3, 2018, peaking at the top of the US Billboard Hot 100. A remix featuring Billy Ray Cyrus was released as a single on April 5, 2019, spending a record 19 weeks at the top.^[7][8]

"Panini" was released as the third single from the EP on June 20, 2019, the day before the EP was released, and would peak at number five on the Hot 100.^[9][10]

"Rodeo", originally with Cardi B, was not made a single until a remix featuring Nas was released on January 27, 2020, one day after it was performed at the Grammys.^[11] The remix was used for the music video in which Nas makes an appearance.

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	57/100[12]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[13]
Consequence	C+[14]
Pitchfork	4.3/10[15]
Rolling Stone	[16]

7 received mixed reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, 7 received an average score of 57, based on 11 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[12]

Mikael Wood at the Los Angeles Times considered it among the best debut efforts of the year, calling the songs on 7 "vivid, funny, full of feeling and supremely catchy, even if they don't quite offer a clear picture of who Lil Nas X is offstage or off-screen."^[17] Brittany Spanos, writing for Rolling Stone praised the EP's "carefully balanced earnestness and playfulness," but agreed with Wood: "Still, it leaves more questions than answers about what and who Lil Nas X wants to be."^[16] In a mixed review, Garrett Gravley at Consequence of Sound described the EP as a "musical Chex Mix — lightweight and best consumed in selective increments, but also strangely addictive."^[14]

Other reviews were more negative. Brian Josephs at Entertainment Weekly criticized its "failed versatility", summarizing by saying, "With 7, there's too little conviction to tell if a full project is something Lil Nas X wants to do. At best, there's a set of half-considered songs."^[18] Alphonse Pierre gave it a poor review for Pitchfork, commenting, "For the entirety of 7, it's unclear if Lil Nas X actually likes music [...] The EP ends up being a set of nothingness [...] content made for the sake of justifying its existence."^[15]

Accolades

7 debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 with 77,000 album-equivalent units (including 4,000 pure album sales).^[20] In its second week the EP remained at number two on Billboard 200 with 62,800 units.^[21]

Adapted from Tidal.^[22]

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a miscellaneous producer
• ^{^[b]} signifies an uncredited producer

Samples

• ^{^[c]} "Old Town Road (Remix)" and "Old Town Road" contain a sample of "34 Ghosts IV", written by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, and performed by Nine Inch Nails.
• ^{^[d]} "Panini" contains an interpolation of "In Bloom", written by Kurt Cobain, and performed by Nirvana.^[17]

Credits adapted from Tidal.^[22]

Musicians

Technical