Look, I don't want to break your hearts and I hope I'm wrong, but Oliver Anthony's rise doesn't feel organic.
Rich Men North of Richmond is still fire, and this doesn't take away from the song's message, but Oliver Anthony might be an industry plant.
To clarify, I'm using this definition of industry plant: an artist with a record deal, supported by a label, who pretends to be independent to gather grassroots support.
And let's face it, Oliver Anthony's story is too good to be true. It felt organic at the beginning, but on 999 cases out of 1000, a label with deep pockets has to be working a song for it to gather this kind of traction. They control all the media. This kind of thing doesn't happen to random people, no matter how talented.
Rich Men North of Richmond is everywhere-everywhere, and that's more than suspicious. I'm sorry to say it, but the powers that be might've gotten us on this one.
And I know that the guy said that he rejected an 8 million dollar deal, but that's exactly what an industry plant pretending to be one of us would say.
I hope I'm wrong, but if I'm not, the guy will announce a record deal sooner than later. That's the last step in the industry plant playbook.