PHX Reporter

Abe Hamadeh, a former nominee for Arizona attorney general, used platform X to publicly thank country singer Oliver Anthony for inspiring him. Anthony, a farmer based in Virginia, accomplished the feat of having three songs simultaneously hold the top positions on the iTunes chart.

"Thank you Oliver for inspiring so many of us — your words and your voice remind me why I fight," Hamadeh tweeted.

Anthony, from Farmville, Virginia, has been writing songs since 2021 and uploading them to his YouTube channel. Lately, his songs, widely regarded as conservative-leaning political anthems, have garnered significantly heightened attention, even experiencing a rapid and almost meteoric rise in popularity overnight, according to Rolling Stone.

Some of Anthony's songs, including tracks like "Rich Men North of Richmond," "I’ve Got to Get Sober" and "Ain’t Gotta Dollar," delve into political themes such as the nation's current state, elevated taxes, human trafficking, welfare matters and even allusions to Jeffrey Epstein's island, among others political topics, according to Rolling Stone.

"'Rich Men North of Richmond' has been uploaded to all major streaming platforms and will show up there in a few days," Anthony said on the X platform. "I'm still in a state of shock at the outpouring of love I've seen in the comments, messages and emails. I'm working to respond to everyone as quickly as possible."

"It touches base on human trafficking and the atrocities that… I’ll say this, I sit pretty dead center down the aisle on politics and always have," Anthony said about his song, according to a YouTube video. "I remember as a kid the conservatives wanting war and me not understanding that, and I remember a lot of the controversies when the left took office, and it seems like both sides serve the same master and that master is not someone of any good to the people of this country."

Anthony is now among the ranks of country artists like Jason Aldean and Jeffrey Steele who have previously released politically inclined songs with a conservative stance. Last month, Aldean's latest track "Try That in a Small Town" secured the top spot on Billboard’s Top 100. However, it also stirred controversy due to its music video featuring violence and subject matter that some have criticized as "racist," according to American Songwriter.