part of the tracklist for 7. Cardi B's appearance on it was not announced until the EP's release on June 21, 2019. A hip hop song, "Rodeo" retains Lil Nas X's "country trap style with twanging guitars" according to Spins Nina Braca. The song samples a guitar riff, described by Uproxxs Aaron Williams as "a harder rock-oriented loop" similar to Heart's "Barracuda" (1977), featuring Lil Nas X's country trap vocals, which Williams thought were "to censure a romantic flame for her dependence on his largesse". It includes a reverbed staccato guitar riff and surf trumpet. With "twisted, brooding Mariachi tones", "Rodeo" has a hint of guitar-and-drum driven heaviness. Reception "Rodeo" was met with generally positive reviews from music critics. Pitchforks Alphonse Pierre wrote that "'Rodeo' hits all the beats of 'Mo Bamba'" (2017), describing the former as "a desperate return to the bulletproof cowboy persona". Nina Braca from Spin labelled Cardi B's verse "energetic". NPRs Meaghan Garvey called the song "an outlaw banger", noting that it sees Lil Nas X's "cartoon cowboy drawl" return. In a review for AllMusic, Fred Thomas wrote that the song gets closest to the "trappy country" formula, with Lil Nas X "affecting his rugged cowboy persona over a banging beat, complete with a dusty drawl and a burning feature from Cardi B". Garrett Gravley of Consequence of Sound compared the quality of the backing instrumentals of "Rodeo" to Dick Dale, adding that it "leave[s] a void in the listener that can only be filled by playing [it] again and again". Rolling Stones Brittany Spanos described the song as a "surefire hit". In a mixed review, Erika Marie of HotNewHipHop thought that the song "brings more of a hip hop vibe with Cardi's aggressive rap addition, but with only two verses, there's much to be left for listeners". Copyright claim Don Lee and Glen Keith DeMeritt III sued Lil Nas X, Cardi B, Take a Daytrip, Unxque and Sony Music Entertainment for allegedly plagiarizing "Rodeo" from a song they produced called "Broad Day" (2017). Lee and DeMeritt stated that the former uses the E, F, G, F, E chord progression of the song and features similar instrumentation to it; they also alleged that the song was "performed, published, and distributed widely, including without limitation in and around the Atlanta hip-hop scene". Lil Nas X denied the claims and said that "the work, 'Rodeo,' was created independently