Oliver Anthony rose to fame with “Rich Men North of Richmond” earlier this year. The song prompted people across the political spectrum to dissect his words to find the message therein. However, according to the artist, many of them missed the mark. Recently, he set the record straight and revealed what he hopes to convey with his music.
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Earlier this week, Anthony spoke to Billboard about his ascent to fame, his forthcoming album, and his world tour. During the conversation, he explained what he wanted his listeners to take from his songs.
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The “Rich Man’s Gold” singer believes that divine intervention led him to where he is today. “I mean, there’s no question that I don’t deserve any bit of this,” he said. “There’s no other explanation to be made of what happened the way it happened,” he continued. “There’s a gazillion, billion, trillion other people out there posting music that, in my mind, is better than mine.”
Then, Anthony elaborated on the purpose of his music. “I think if there’s a message at all that needs to be spread, it’s probably that we just desperately need to connect on a personal level with each other. As a society, I think we rely too much on communicating with each other through the internet,” he explained. “The difference between talking in person and a text message is totally different—things get misunderstood and misrepresented. And, when that happens on such a large scale, like social media … people form way too many opinions based off of internet-related content,” he added.
This isn’t the first time Anthony has spoken about the detrimental effects of social media. Recently, he took to X to make a similar statement. He blamed social media for many of the world’s ills including the deep division and isolation that people feel in the current world.
Later in the discussion, Billboard mentioned a photo of Anthony with possible presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. They asked if he planned to endorse or vote for Kennedy in next year’s election.
Anthony said he would not endorse Kennedy. Instead, he explained, they were discussing Kennedy’s theories on mental health and agriculture. “He’s very involved in this idea of a healing center, which is basically a way of combining regenerative agriculture and mental health,” he said. “I’m looking to implement something very similar on my property.”
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Then, Anthony revealed his long-term goal. He wants to inspire people to get back to the basics. He’d like to see more people growing their own food and raising animals. The singer/songwriter went on to say that people have become disconnected from one another and nature. “Everything is fake and phony and plastic now,” he opined. “Getting away from that would really benefit, especially, our youth.”
Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images
