Gucci Mane has noticed the viral success of country singer Oliver Anthony's "Rich Men North of Richmond," which has prompted discussion online thanks to its questionable lyrics.
Anthony has identified himself as a farmer living off the grid in Virginia, and his song has quickly gained traction. In just over a week on YouTube, his performance video has amassed 15 million views. Anthony is dominating Spotify's viral chart with several entries, and "Rich Men North of Richmond" has become something of an anthem among right-wing circles.
In a post shared on Instagram, Gucci Mane shared his appreciation for the song and suggested that he was eager to sign him to his 1017 imprint.
"Aye fam I need y'all help on this one I'm trying sign these guys as my first country artists to 1017!!!" wrote Gucci alongside a screenshot of the song on Apple Music. "I need the info asap."
While the song opens with an easy-to-appreciate message—the numbing grind of working for little pay, and frustration at the state of politics in 2023—it quickly takes a turn when Oliver Anthony addresses common right-wing talking points.
"'Cause your dollar ain't shit and it's taxed to no end/'Cause of rich men north of Richmond," he sings in the chorus. Perhaps the most worrying part of the song comes when he addresses welfare in a dismissive way: “Lord, we got folks in the street, ain’t got nothing to eat/And the obese milking wel-fare/Well God, if you’re 5 foot 3 and you’re 300 pounds/Taxes ought not to pay for your bags of fudge rounds.”
He also alludes to Jeffrey Epstein's Caribbean island. “I wish politicians would look out for miners/And not just minors on an island somewhere," he sings, suggesting that he believes politicians protected the late convicted sex offender.
The song has drawn praise from some far-right figures, including Republican House representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, and conservative commentators Matt Walsh and Dan Bongino. Fox News also produced a report on Anthony that was positive about the subject matter of the track.
As reporter Noah Smith wrote in an article about the sudden viral success of the song, it's become a "right-populist anthem" with references to "standard conservative hobbyhorses like taxes, welfare, inflation, and cancel culture." The article goes on to address most of Anthony's complaints with the world, including the assertion that food stamps cost taxpayers too much and increase obesity. "Yes, there is a chance that taxes are paying for some obese people’s fudge rounds," wrote Smith, "But the effect, if it exists, is quite small, and it can probably be canceled out just by tweaking the food stamp program to incentivize people to buy healthy foods."
In an article for The Guardian, Matthew Cantor accused the song of punching down. In a video on his YouTube channel, Oliver Anthony said his politics are "pretty dead center down the aisle on politics and always have," and that he believes "both sides serve the same master."
