< The rise of Oliver Anthony and 'Rich Men North of Richmond'

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Now, at the Republican debate in Wisconsin, this song was playing before the candidates spoke.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "“RICH MEN NORTH OF RICHMOND”")

OLIVER ANTHONY: (Singing) These rich men north of Richmond, lord knows they all just wanna have total control, wanna know…

INSKEEP: The song is "Rich Men North Of Richmond" by Oliver Anthony, who was an unknown artist until the song hit the top of the Billboard Hot 100. Now, this song fits into a tradition of protest music calling out the fat cats who exploit working people. There are many genres of this kind of song, and on the other hand, it's drawn criticism because it leans into extremist conspiracy theories. MORNING EDITION's Michel Martin wanted to hear more about both sides of the song, so she reached out to Anastasia Tsioulcas from NPR's Culture Desk and Odette Yousef, who covers domestic extremism for NPR News.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

What exactly in this song is raising so many red flags?

ODETTE YOUSEF, BYLINE: Yeah. So it's one line, Michel, that says, I wish politicians would look out for miners - that's miners with an E - and not just minors on an island somewhere. That second one is a minors with an O. That second part, minors on an island somewhere, is a reference to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. You'll recall, Michel, that Epstein died in jail in 2019. And in the far right, there continue to be conspiracy theories about the circumstances of his death. If you listen to some other Oliver Anthony content online, he talks about human trafficking and about people taking advantage of children, which together form sort of the foundation of the QAnon conspiracy theory. And so it's really remarkable to see a song referencing these kind of out-there, baseless narratives achieving this mainstream success. And it's causing some concern to people who've looked at the role that pop culture has played in normalizing and spreading extremist ideas.

MARTIN: Could you say more about that? Like, what role would a song like this play in spreading extremist ideas?

YOUSEF: So I spoke with Jared Holt about this. He's a senior researcher at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. He said it's not new to see a political movement, and even extremist movements, latching on to cultural artifacts like music or movies to normalize their ideas. But what he's taking note of here is how the song has been seized on by some far-right influencers, people who've made a profession of sowing discord in the U.S. by spreading disinformation about things like COVID vaccines or LGBTQ people.

JARED HOLT: If these far-right figures are successful in associating themselves directly with this song, it could potentially open up a wider audience that they might normally not have access to.

MARTIN: So let's talk a little bit more about the song itself. Anastasia, let's go to you for this. It seems like this comes amid a bigger string of chart successes for country music this summer.

ANASTASIA TSIOULCAS, BYLINE: Sure, Michel. I mean, we're at a really singular moment. Earlier this month, for the first time in Billboard history, three country artists occupied the top-three spaces on the Billboard 100. It was led by Jason Aldean's "Try That In A Small Town" at No. 1, Morgan Wallen's "Last Night" at No. 2. There's also been a lot of conversation around those artists in particular already, especially when it comes to politics and racial tensions. Back in early 2021, a video of Morgan Wallen using the N-word went viral. But then he went on to have the bestselling album of that year across any genre. And the Jason Aldean video shows Aldean singing in front of a courthouse where a Black teenager was lynched.

MARTIN: So let me just ask about this artist, though, Oliver Anthony. I think it's fair to say that a few weeks ago, very few people had heard of him. He'd never had a song on any charts before, and now he's No. 1. So, Anastasia, can you talk a little bit about, like - how did that happen?

TSIOULCAS: He seems to be the beneficiary of a huge signal boost. The song was only posted online two weeks ago, but within days, commentators and podcasters like Joe Rogan, Laura Ingraham and Matt Walsh were praising him. And then, of course, his song was very much front and center at the GOP debate. There's also a very interesting thing going on specifically related to the algorithm that's used to figure the Billboard charts. The calculations still weigh purchased song and album downloads more heavily than streams. And I spoke to a music journalist who specializes in country music, Natalie Weiner, and she made a fascinating point about how music lovers sometimes game that chart algorithm to boost their favorite artists. And she compared Oliver Anthony to the fans of pop acts like the Korean band BTS.

NATALIE WEINER: Fan armies have purchased downloads for a long time because it has a heavier weight on the charts. So if they want to push an artist up, they will just purchase downloads, quote-unquote, "voting with your "money" or "voting with your wallet."

TSIOULCAS: Something like that would take a lot of deep music industry savvy, Michel. And it's not clear that Oliver Anthony's fans are that well organized, at least not quite yet.

MARTIN: That is Anastasia Tsioulcas from NPR's Culture Desk. And we also heard from Odette Yousef, who covers domestic extremism. Thank you both so much for joining us.

YOUSEF: Thank you.

TSIOULCAS: Thanks for having us.

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