Blame Lil Nas X. After he rode to the top of the charts and roped a financial whirlwind by fusing country, hip-hop and electronics into music that teenage club kids could love, it was only a matter of time until every trend-humping knobtwister jumped on the covered bandwagon. Still, that’s no excuse for this predictably wretched offering from EDM superstar Diplo. He calls it a country album; I call this star-studded silliness nothing but a bunch of dance tracks that haven been awkwardly saddled with the occasional twangy guitar lick, do-si-do squaredance vocal or whistling-cowboy refrain in a pointless, shameless, graceless and soulless attempt to cash in on a phenomenon that’s already riding into the sunset. When he decided to title this con job Snake Oil, apparently he wasn’t kidding. Don’t be a sucker.
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Diplo will release his long-awaited country album Diplo Presents Thomas Wesley Chapter 1: Snake Oil. The album includes the hits Heartless with Morgan Wallen, Lonely with Jonas Brothers and So Long with Cam. It also features guests Thomas Rhett, Zac Brown, Young Thug, Noah Cyrus, Orville Peck and more. Diplo’s foray into country has been gestating for a while. He brought it the public for the first time at Stagecoach’s first ever Late Night dance party in 2019, where he welcomed Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus for the live debut of Old Town Road. He has since released his own remix of the track and appeared alongside them at the Grammys. Born Thomas Wesley Pentz, Diplo is one of the most dynamic forces in music today under his own name, as well as a member of the now-legendary Major Lazer. As a producer he’s worked with the likes of Beyoncé, Bad Bunny and Turnstile.”
