[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmZ9xRO7M9M]
UBIQUITY The longest-running No. 1 country song ever was pushed over the top by a rap verse from Nelly; it’s topped 5 million downloads.
LONGEVITY Originally a 2012 summer song, “Cruise” kept on motoring and didn’t peak until this June
SOCIAL POWER Florida Georgia Line posts regularly to Instagram and Twitter, but the success of “Cruise” seems more about the song than about its artists.
ROOTS “Cruise” mentions the Marshall Tucker Band in passing, but otherwise it’s modern—country hip-hop, if there is such a thing.
CONTROVERSY Not unless “a brand-new Chevy with a lift kit” is somehow illegal.