Mariah Carey congratulates Lil Nas X for breaking her Billboard Hot 100 record

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"Sending love & congrats to @LilNasX on breaking one of the longest running records in music history!" Carey tweeted Monday. "We've been blessed to hold this record with a song that means a great deal to @BoyzIIMen and myself and has touched so many. Keep living your best life!"

Lil Nas X responded in kind, tweeting, "Wowwww thank you so much Mariah! you are a legend and an icon and I’m blessed to even have you acknowledging me right now! growing up to your music & now having you talk to me directly is unreal!"

The inspiration for the song, initially released as a solo single in December, came when the now-20-year-old rapper was at a low point in his life, according to an Instagram post the musician made after setting the Hot 100 record.

"Last year in October, as a struggling artist starting to lose faith in what I could be, I went looking for beats on youtube. I remember clicking on so many generic sounding beats trying to find the right one for me," he wrote. "When suddenly I came across a country-trap sounding masterpiece. I immediately knew I would make something special out of it!"

Nas X said his sister said he would have to leave her home soon as he had been there for months working on his music online.

"I was so upset I used it as motivation for the song! I jokingly/seriously saw myself as a loner cowboy needing to run away from it all! I went out on my sister’s back porch and listened to the beat OVER & OVER & OVER!! then it came to me!! in my best singing voice I sung “YEAHHH IM GONNA TAKE MY HORSE TO THE OLD TOWN ROAD IM GONNA RIDEEEE TIL I CANT NO MORE” I LOVED IT ALREADY! I started to work on it EVERY SINGLE DAY."

Nas X said the song needed to be hip-hop, country, catchy and short. He was in his brother's house by the time he finished the song and went into the studio on December 2 to record the song, putting it on SoundCloud the same day, where it began to gain momentum.

"Did I know it would become the longest running number song of all time? NO!‼ but I am so thankful that this blessing has been placed upon me. this song has changed my life and the way I see the world around me in less than a year. thank you to every single person who has been apart of this journey. as I said before, it’s just the beginning!"