Lil Nas X doesn’t want to speak about ‘a lot of the homophobia within rap’

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Lil Nas X is one of the cover subjects for the most recent issue of Variety. Nas – real name Montero Lamar Hill – is promoting his upcoming album, Montero, which already has a series of record-breaking hits. While Olivia Rodrigo (another Variety cover) is definitely one of the huge stories in music today, so is Nas. Millions of people are listening to him and engaging with him and loving him. He’s only 22 years old and he’s an out gay man. You can read the full Variety piece here. Some highlights:

The pandemic: “I think I spent all of the pandemic making music and crying — no in-betweens. For the first month or so, I did not leave my house, and once I did, I was super overly critical of everything I was making. I was letting everything online get to me and feeling like things were over for me.”

He’s not a people-pleaser anymore: “Honestly, I believe the pandemic helped me get out of the idea of trying to please everybody, and the idea of ‘He’s a cool gay person; he’s an acceptable gay person.’ I used to see things like that as a compliment, but it’s not. It just means you’re a people pleaser, and they never become legends. I wanted to be even more authentic in my music and let people into my life. I’m much more confident now — in my music, myself, my sexuality, the things that I believe that I stand for.”

Elton John loves him: Elton John, who has called Nas “a hero of mine,” tells Variety: “Lil Nas X is a bold and brave provocateur who’s making amazing and inspiring music. He’s pushing the boundaries of urban music by wholeheartedly embracing his sexuality and visually projecting that celebration out into the world. Historically, there has been a lot of homophobia in the hip-hop world. DaBaby’s recent recent damaging comments about the LGBTQ community and people living with HIV/AIDS clearly demonstrate that there is still so much education and work to be done.”

Nas on the rappers who hate him. “The honest truth is, I don’t want to speak on a lot of the homophobia within rap because I feel like this is a very dangerous playing field. It’s more for my own safety rather than anything else.”

He’s felt unsafe: “Yeah, a lot of times, absolutely. Especially after [‘Montero’]. There was literally someone who chased my car a few days after that video came out, yelling, ‘F–k you!’ or something. And that’s when I actually started getting security.” Although he’s not sure the video is what caused this stranger to pursue him, “I feel like it couldn’t be a coincidence.”

He loved Call Me by Your Name: “I saw it at home while I was beginning to make my album. And I was really happy to see such an artsy gay film, you know? I used it as a subtitle because I felt like that song, like even before I added in lyrics, sounded like that movie, taking sounds from Indian music, Arabic music, African music. Anyway, I met Timothée at ‘SNL.’ He was just hanging out backstage, and he was like super supportive and showed love. I was like, holy sh-t, that’s a crazy full-circle moment.”

His history as a teenaged Minaj stan: “Being on stan Twitter as a whole, I learned a lot about the things that artists have to go through, and also a lot of music industry history. It’s helping me a lot.”

His current boyfriend is The One: Encountering homophobia “bred a lot of self-hate, but it also made me stronger. Once I was 17 or 18, I finally accepted it — like, for sure accepted it, slowly, more and more — and now I’ve grown into a person that is 100% open with it. I’ve had some good boyfriends and some bad ones. A lot of them were emotionally unavailable or had a lot of insecurity and whatnot.” But “I’ve found someone special now,” he reveals. “I think this is the one. I can’t explain it — it’s just a feeling.”

[From Variety]

I’ve said this a million times already, but I love him and I want the world for him. It’s nice because I do think he’s got a good head on his shoulders and I do think that there are so many people within the music industry rooting for him. Not just Beyonce and Elton John – although they are important allies to have – but people coming up with him, his generational peers, and other Black artists and Southern artists. Anyway, Nas is amazing. The rappers who are trying to talk sh-t about him are just telling on themselves.

Cover & IG courtesy of Variety.

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18 Responses to “Lil Nas X doesn’t want to speak about ‘a lot of the homophobia within rap’”

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  1. Levans says:

    I’m rooting for Lil Nas X and wish him nothing but success!

  2. Jais says:

    I really love him too and want all the best for him.

  3. Amy Too says:

    This part bugged me a little bit:

    “ Although he’s not sure the video is what caused this stranger to pursue him, “I feel like it couldn’t be a coincidence.””

    Like I feel like this was the interviewer second guessing him and downplaying Nas’s intuition about what was happening to him. Like “but do you *know* that that person knew it was you? And do you know for sure that he saw the video and that’s what he was reacting to? Do you really know that he had a problem with you being openly gay?” It felt like a little form of gaslighting. Like Lil Nas doesn’t know what happened to him. Like he wouldn’t know what that feels like. Like there’s not so much homophobia in the world that something like this could absolutely happen. Especially after he had just spoken about how he’s not going to say too much about homophobic rappers or certain lyrics because it wouldn’t be safe for him to do so. Like Nas said, it feels like it couldn’t be a coincidence that right after *that* video came out someone is suddenly chasing him, yelling at him, trying to intimidate him and make him feel unsafe. I wanted to yell “believe gay people!”

    • Anna says:

      Agreed. As queer folk as Black folk as all the things that whiteness hates, we *KNOW* when we are being attacked and/or gaslit. But I guess it’s par for the course when it comes to white media. Even our own experience is not to be trusted. All I know is, he better have some strong security and thank goodness *he* knows and trusts himself because the media will love to watch his demise and participate in causing it.

  4. SarahCS says:

    I really feel for people in the publish sphere and everything they have to deal with. I applaud him so much for doing what he does and finding ways to deal with the pressure, hate and all the other negativity (and outright danger) that comes with it. Very much in the rooting for him camp.

    • Otaku fairy says:

      This, it gets very bad. It’s hard not to worry about him and other people sometimes who you see pushing back so publicly against traditional values as a bisexual woman. It goes beyond people not wanting to work with them. People very much do try to Chrissy Teigen (and worse) them. The conversion therapy talking points- the stereotyping of all of them as crazed csa victims who need to be committed. The salivating for their breakdowns and other forms of suffering, as if that will just be the natural consequence of their sexually sinful choices. The hate speech. The blame people are expected to take for the actions of traffickers, pedophiles, and other violent crimminals just because of the way they present themselves visually. The stalkers who will confront them or show up in their spaces, sometimes with weapons. The threats and calls for them to be physically assaulted, raped, or killed. The victim-blaming for all of the above. None of that is anything to dismiss or laugh along with. I really appreciate what Lil Nas X is doing, and the respect and compassion from older acts like Elton John.

  5. mindy_dopple says:

    He is more than his sexual orientation and I can see him getting burnt out talking about it. I really enjoy him and all his clap backs though, may he find nothing but success and happiness.

    • Anna says:

      Exactly. Just like Black people don’t owe it to the world (and specifically to white people) to talk about race and be reduced to that though it is a facet of identity, he does not owe anyone anything and it’s so irritating to have that kind of expectation thrown at you. Like, go do the work and stop expecting us to do it for you.

  6. Otaku fairy says:

    There are people who will be saying Lil Nas X ‘chose’ to put himself in that shark & piranha water. That he put himself out there, so him just talking about homophobia as much as he has is him ‘playing the victim’ (people already tried that one). That while you don’t choose your biological sex or gender at birth, you can in your teens, 20s, and beyond choose not to be flashy about it, and at least put forth some effort to come across as one of the acceptable ones so you don’t get that abuse. But he shouldn’t have to. Nobody should. The abuse one person gets for openly straying far from those ‘values’ is just as bad as abusing someone else who was being anonymous and private about it. Glad he recognizes that it’s not actually a compliment. Maintaining that “acceptable” position can come at a cost that’s unhealthy and wrong too.

  7. ME says:

    Call Me By Your Name is such a good movie. I can see why he’s a fan of it. I don’t see why anyone on this earth would have a problem with Lil Nas X. He seems like such an amazing young man. Also, he doesn’t have to call out the homophobes in rap music. A lot of them already showed us who they are.

  8. detritus says:

    He brings out that maternal protection urge more than any other celebrity I’ve known.

  9. Theothermia says:

    That suit is fire 😍

  10. SusanRagain says:

    I am a fan. I am always interested in people who are comfortable in themselves.
    The attention, PR, social media these days is a tough situation to control.
    He has had a big success at a young age, I hope he continues to find success and happiness.

  11. jferber says:

    Yes, he is hot as hell. But remember, ALL rappers are prey to violence, given all the shootings of these very young guys. I remember one quote saying 27 is no longer the age musicians won’t get past, but 21. Many young, black male rappers are killed at or before 21. But for Lil Nas X, he’s absolutely right that there is extra danger for him because he’s gay. No question. That’s why I think and say that he should have excellent, professional bodyguards around him at all times. That would also be a good idea for all young rappers who inspire jealousy or who are targets of robbery. The aspiring rappers who are beginning to be successful should also get bodyguards. Of course, gun control laws would certainly help, but don’t get me started on that.

  12. Christine says:

    It’s more for my own safety rather than anything else.”

    This makes me so sad for him. He really does own the word “brave”, fully. I cannot imagine knowing 98% of my peers hate me for who I love.