‘I Wrote That Song About Those People’

Topline

Oliver Anthony—the country singer who skyrocketed to the top of music charts for his working class anthem “Rich Men North of Richmond”—criticized the politicians, namely conservatives, who have attached themselves to his message in a video posted Friday.

Anthony said his chart-topping song is directed at the conservative political figures who have … [+] attached themselves to his message.

Mike Caudill for Billbaord/Billboard via Getty

Key Facts

Anthony said he was disappointed to see the way people wrapped politics into his music, adding that he’s aggravated “seeing people on conservative news trying to identify with me, like I’m one of them.”

The country singer said while he’s thrilled with the global response from the song, he’s annoyed with the musicians and politicians acting like “we’re buddies” and “like we’re fighting the same struggle here.”

He specifically noted the song’s mention at Wednesday’s GOP primary debate and described it as funny to see the candidates discuss a song he said he wrote about them.

Anthony said the positive response—multiple videos of the country singer performing “Rich Men North of Richmond” have hundreds of thousands of comments and millions of views on YouTube—to the song from people around the world “terrifies the people that I sing about in that song.”

Crucial Quote

“It’s hard to get a message out about your political ideology or your belief about the world in three minutes and some change, but I do hate to see that song being weaponized,” Anthony said in the video. “I see the right trying to characterize me as one of their own and I see the left trying to discredit me, I guess in retaliation.”

Big Number

26.3 million. That’s how many views a clip of Anthony’s song posted on X, the platform previously known as Twitter, received in the 15 days since the country singer first posted it.

Surprising Fact

“Rich Men North of Richmond”ranks No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100, No. 1 on the iTunes chart and No. 1 on the Apple Music daily streams chart.

Key Background

Anthony, a farmer from Farmville, Virginia, first posted the song on YouTube on August 1 and it became an instant hit. Conservative politicians and pundits have adopted the song as their own. Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), for example, called the song an “anthem of the forgotten Americns who truly support this nation.” Among the lyrics included in the hit are critiques of the government for the way it handles social issues. Anthony notes the “obese milkin’ welfare,” and being “taxed to no end” among his themes in the song. Anthony said music, which he’s posted on his YouTube page since 2020, is an outlet for the difficult life experiences he’s had including spending “a lot of nights getting high and getting drunk” and his 12-hour shifts in a North Carolina factory. But those lyrics have also come under fire from some critics who say the song promotes negative stereotypes about welfare receipts and encourages fatphobic rhetoric.