No matter where you’ve been looking, you’ve heard about viral sensation Oliver Anthony by now. He released his single ‘Rich Men North Of Richmond’ just a few days ago, August 11th to be exact. Since then, he’s sky rocketed to #1 on the iTunes charts, among others. He’s amassed hundreds of thousands of followers on social media (previously having next to none), plus millions of listens and views on Spotify and YouTube respectively. But why? How? Who is he?!

Who is Oliver Anthony?

Well there isn’t a ton of information on Oliver Anthony yet. He’s a country singer and songwriter out of Farmville, Virginia. Oliver lives on his homestead with his 3 dogs, he’s a farmer and an artist. Beyond that, he’s an independent artist, which further proves independent artists can and do succeed without a major label. Oliver’s biggest influence is Hank Williams Jr. He wants his music to inspire working class people like himself. Oliver writes his own music, sings his songs and plays his guitar. There isn’t much else to it. His music is raw, and real, we think that’s why he found so much success (plus very talented of course).

Oliver had some songs out, and a small following prior to this. But it’s when RADIOWV discovered him and recorded some of his songs that this blew up. They showcase various Virginia talents, but their video of Oliver Anthony blew up their views. Which in turn helps support the other independent artists they show case. The YouTube video below is the one that went viral, and it’s through the RADIOWV page.

How did Oliver Anthony go viral with ‘Rich Men North Of Richmond’?

This is up for debate of course, and there isn’t one right answer. But we’re here to discuss it and give our personal opinion on the matter. It’s being said that Oliver Anthony’s new single ‘Rich Men North Of Richmond’ is the new conservative anthem. This song has dethroned the previous hit song (another conservative anthem, coincidence?) ‘Try That In A Small Town’ by Jason Aldean on most charts as #1. There’s all sorts of speculation towards Aldean’s hit due to the music video, however we don’t see or hear anything sketchy with Oliver Anthony’s song. Just sounds like a song by a hard working American who’s giving his thoughts on living in America today. We’re not here to pick apart the lyrics though, what we’re here to do is talk about how it caught fire and resonated with people so quickly.

One of the best way’s to go viral, is to say something with meaning. Be real, put something out there that’s from the heart and people will find it. Then it’ll catch fire and blow up like Oliver Anthony has. So regardless of where you stand politically, or what you might think of the song itself, you have to respect seeing an independent artist find such success on his own. It’s just his music, it’s not even overly produced. It’s just him behind a microphone, with his guitar, belting out his song. He doesn’t say anywhere that this song is for conservatives, just that it’s for hard working Americans, for working class men and woman. The fact this song went so viral, proves how many hard working people there are these days that are looking for a voice that shouts out their thoughts. If this working class anthem has become a conservative movement fight song, then what’s that say?

In Conclusion…

We’re all about propping up independent artists here. We’ve been doing it for over a decade. All of our posts are proudly based around that mantra, that independent artists can succeed without major labels. So regardless of the politics, the genre, or anything else, if we see an artist succeed like this, we’re gonna highlight it proudly. Music is such a unifying force, it brings people together. Hopefully songs like this that go viral can continue to bring people together instead of dividing. This country is a melting pot, everybody is entitled to their own opinion, and that should be respected, regardless.

If Oliver Anthony was signed to a major label before releasing this song, would it have gone viral like this? We doubt it, because labels tend to censor and control artists to release something that appeals to a wider commercial audience. Ya need to have that artistic freedom to create and release something that’s true to your heart to find this kind of success.

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