Rich Men Not So North of Richmond
Oliver Anthony – A name seldom heard of until recently. Anthony took the world by storm with the breakout hit: “Rich Men North of Richmond”. In fact – the storm was too big. Anthony had a previously modest music history on Spotify. He had few songs and even fewer views, yet overnight his work was coveted by politicians, calling for it to become the anthem of the South.
This incredible rise to success wouldn’t be met without question, however. Some have pointed out racist dog whistles and links to conspiracy theories within the lyrics, such as references to the conspiracy that convicted pedophile Jeffery Epstein hosted politicians on his island. Others took issue with allusions to the concept of “welfare queens”. The sudden rise to fame has led some to suspect that Anthony was an industry plant. The music video reached millions of views within a week, far eclipsing his previous work. Soon after, news coverage saturated media networks, accompanied by loud claims for it to become the anthem of the South. A similar situation occurred with Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town” but not to the extent of Anthony’s success, despite his musical history eclipsing Anthony’s.
“I think it’s a grift in all honesty,” senior Je’vyon Manah said. “It’s an attempt to make the values it preaches more mainstream.”
A reasonable conclusion would be that it’s simply the product of the unpredictable algorithms, but a deeper search would indicate influences from behind the scenes. It traces back to a company not so north of Richmond: Reach Digital. Reach Digital is an advertising company that describes itself as being able to “increase your online visibility, drive more leads, and convert those leads into sales.” Reach Digital CEO Jason Howerton seems to be at least partially responsible for the artist’s rapid ascent to fame.
“When I offered to cover the cost for Oliver to produce a record, I had NO idea what would transpire,” Howerton said on social media. “I just wanted to help. This is how we're going to change culture. And the country.”
Despite Howerton’s indirect denial of planting Anthony, a partner of Howerton, Dan Bongino, defended him and indirectly confirmed some of these suspicions on social media, stating that Howerton flew from California to spread Anthony’s message. Howerton is openly right-wing and has a clear agenda for Anthony’s song, but strangely, Anthony seems to disagree, even saying that his song was weaponized after it was played at the 2023 Republican presidential primary debate in Milwaukee.
“It’s aggravating seeing people on conservative news try to identify with me like I’m one of them,” Anthony said. “It’s aggravating seeing certain musicians and politicians act like we’re buddies and act like we’re fighting the same struggle here.”
However, this isn’t unique to Anthony. In the past few years, we’ve seen the importance of music in political movements and what comes with such importance. Whether that be the late George Harrison’s estate or Elton John, artists are sensitive about what their work is used to represent. It’s a right that no one should have taken away from them, regardless of who the person is. Music is the center of our political movements, even if we may not realize it. Songs like “Dixie” or even national anthems are used as propaganda for the agendas of countries. Beyond the controversy of the song lies the question of how much control an artist is allowed to have over their own work.
“Where words fail, music speaks” – Hans Christian Andersen