Dave East said fans resented him for not liking Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road" song

Although Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 100 for a record-breaking 19 weeks in 2019, Dave East said he never liked the song featuring Billy Ray Cyrus. 

During the apex of the viral hit, the Harlem rapper went to his Instagram Story and publicly expressed his hatred for the track.

“This f**king ‘Old Town Road’ s**t is f**king wack,” he said in the video. “I don’t know what the f**k is going on with hip hop or rap but… I ain’t no hater, man, but that s**t is wack with a cape on it. It’s super wack.”

Immediately, his comments caused controversy across social media. Music fans from everywhere blasted him for his feelings. 

Well, yesterday (Jan. 3), the rapper/actor admitted that his comments harmed his career. On an episode of the “My Expert Opinion” podcast hosted by Math Hoffa, East said that his “gram just slowed up.”

“Cuzzo, I said I don’t like ‘Old Town Road’ one day,” said the “Wu-Tang: An American Saga” actor. “I woke up one day, I felt a way, I said I don’t like this record. You know the entire [LGBTQ] community ran down on me?” 

He continued to justify that he didn’t say anything negative about LGBTQ people and added that he’s “cool with people in the community.” 

East added, “My mother f**ken gram just slowed up whenever that record came out… So it’s like you can’t have an opinion on s**t no more.”

The “Type of Time” rapper’s fan engagement might have decreased, but he hasn’t stopped making music. Just yesterday, fellow Harlem emcee Vado dropped a video to his track “By The Stove,” which features East. The song comes from Vado’s third installment of his Long Run mixtape series.  

Check out the “My Expert Opinion” conversation below and if you skip to the 3:50 mark, you’ll hear East’s comments about his “Old Town Road” controversy.