Lil Nas X never planned to come out, says he wants to represent the LGBT community
Lil Nas X says he initially had no intention of coming out.
“The honest truth is, I planned to die with the secret,” the Old Town Road hitmaker says in an interview with The Guardian.
Before he hit fame with his record-breaking hit, Nas wrote his first song, titled Shame, which saw him leaning into the rough-edged, macho qualities of the rap styles he grew up listening to. He took on a heterosexual persona for his early songs, as in the track, Nasarati, in which he lewdly rapped that he “might go and fuck ya motha.”
“It was just me acting really hard,” he admits. “Which I did a lot of in the beginning. Because it felt like that’s what I had to do.”
However, in coming out, Nas joined a growing cohort of young entertainers challenging the idea that queer rappers cannot experience mainstream success, from Kevin Abstract of hip hop “boy band” Brockhampton, to the experimental Tyler, the Creator, to the openly bisexual female rapper Doja Cat. Grateful that the announcement hadn’t killed his career, he began pushing the limits with increasingly outlandish red-carpet looks. He wore a neon-green suit, created by the hip black designer Christopher John Rogers, paired with feminine leopard print gloves to the American Music Awards in November last year. Two months later, he was at the Grammys in a leather, Barbie-pink Versace suit, with a harness and see-through mesh T-shirt.
The 20-year-old rapper insists that he “100 percent” wants to represent the LGBT community, even though he doesn’t want to force anyone to reveal their sexuality, as they might not be in the place to open up.
“I 100% want to represent the LGBT community,” he says, adding that he also worries about the safety and wellbeing of fans who may grapple with the decision to come out. “I don’t want to encourage them to do something they don’t 100% want to do. Especially in, like, middle school or high school. Because it’s just super hard.”
He continues: “It’s easier for me. I’m not depending on anybody. There’s no one who’s going to kick me out of the house – nobody to start treating me shitty.” This may not be the case for “another 20-year-old who doesn’t quite have it figured out and still lives with his parents”.
He adds that his family knows now about his sexuality. “But it’s not something that’s ever brought up or we speak about,” he said. “We’re quiet on it. Nobody’s like, ‘Oh, you got a boyfriend?’”
About relationships, he admits that he falls in love “super-easily.” He says: “I have met a lot of great people this year. Relationships are hard because either I end up being too busy or I end up falling for another person. I fall super-easily.”
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8 Comments
Ken
April 06, 06:56Lol he said he falls (in love) very easily. Duh. Isn’t that the whole point of being gay. Anyhoo, good for u lil Nas that u 100% independent. You are totally a good role model for the LGBT community, especially our young ones these days who are firmly stuck to their parents aprons. Like why should a 30yr still be living with parents??? Failure to launch, anyone?? I think we can learn a lot from lol Nas tho
Delle
April 06, 17:17The whole point of being gay is to fall in love super easily, Ken?
Is this the stupidest thing this week or should we expect more from you? I mean, you seem to always have something crass to dish out. Jeez.
Ken
April 07, 06:29You must be very foolish for such utterances. If u don’t have what to say then fuck off Dumbo! Big fool
Delle
April 07, 19:11Okay now I get it. You’re quite uneducated (channel this energy you put into being daft to correcting your grammar and your world will be a lot brighter). I’ll stop expecting so much.
Ciao.
DeadlyDarius
April 07, 15:05In your mind, your comment made sense. What else do you have for us today? That after playing the game, gay men should find a woman and settle down before they are 40?
Clown.
Higwe
April 06, 09:46Everyone from ATRL knew Nasmaraj was gay.
He ran a troll account for Nicki but unlike most trolls that usually operate anonymously , he used to upload his mixtapes on Twitter.
When he blew up , it wasn’t hard for people to put two and two together and come up with – GAY ?
It’s not like he had a choice , he was basically shoved out of the closet.
The evidence against him was overwhelming and he eventually took the high road by coming out himself.
Whether or not this affects his career , I guess we will know when his second album arrives.
Panini was a moderate hit and Rodeo tanked even with a high budget video .
All in all , he seems like a really sweet kid and I’m rooting for him.
Fave
April 07, 16:02Atlanta is like Lagos of the gays in the US.
Delle
April 06, 17:15‘Falls in love super easily’
Fancy phrase for HOE.
Ok.