‘Panini’: The cartoon that inspired a classic Lil Nas X song
2024 has been a crazy year for Lil Nas X. In January, the emcee released his HBO Max documentary Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero, which saw him get candid about his sexuality, and later that month, he released his controversial single ‘J Christ’.
‘Montero (Call Me by Your Name)’ rapper Lil Nas X has made a lot of hit songs. However, one little-known fact about one of his anthems is that it was inspired by an old children’s cartoon from the 2000s.
Following the success of his breakout debut single ‘Old Town Road’ and its remix featuring the legendary country artist Billy Ray Cyrus, Lil Nas X released a follow-up track entitled ‘Panini’.
As an interpolation of Nirvana’s 1991 single ‘In Bloom’ it saw the controversial emcee utilise a rock song for the second time after sampling Nine Inch Nails’ ‘34 Ghosts IV’ for his 2018 smash hit ‘Old Town Road’ which earned him two Grammy awards in the categories of ‘Best Music Video’ and ‘Best Pop Duo/Group Performance’ for the remix.
In an interview with Genius, the Georgia rapper explained that the song (‘Panini’) was about fans who turn into haters and detailed that it was “a representation of fans of who love you when you’re small. Once you get the spotlight, they aren’t feeling you as much. The song is not a diss, but anger towards that fan, but also wanting them back.”
However, he didn’t reveal straight away that the single was named after a character from the Cartoon Network children’s program Chowder. In the show, Panini is a fictional pink cat and rabbit hybrid animal that is in love with the title character, Chowder. However, the love is toxic, and Panini is slightly obsessive.
The lyrics of Lil Nas X’s song reflect the show as he raps, “Ayy, Panini, don’t you be a meanie / Thought you wanted me to go up / Why you tryna keep me teeny? / It’s a dream, he wished it on a genie / I got fans finally, ain’t you wanting them to see me?”
Chowder wasn’t an extremely popular series and sonly aired between 2007 and 2010. Panini was voiced by Liliana Mumy, and the main character, Chowder, was voiced by the child actor Nicky Jones. Although it wasn’t hugely popular and had a short run, Chowder received a Primetime Emmy Award and six Annie Award nominations.
Lil Nas X has continued to be quite animated and carefree in his music, but this year, the rhymer has had a quiet year. With the exception of three tracks, ‘J Christ’, ‘Where Do We Go Now’ and ‘Here We Go’, the former star has been missing in action, and some of his fans are hoping a comeback is imminent.