Lil Nas X will grace the Fall-August issue of Out Magazine and will discuss his purpose in helping erase the stigmas and homophobic stances in hip-hop. In the interview, the “Old Town Road” hitmaker discussed performing his latest hit “Montero” at the BET Awards where he kissed another man during his performance.
“Going to this place with all these overly masculine rappers and you’re finna be in there throwing a little a—s every now and then, touching on dudes and hugging them and kissing them…at some points I was like, ‘Should I even do this? I don’t feel like they’re going to love me like that. [People always say], ‘Go where you’re accepted,’ and stuff like that, but you can’t always just go where you’re accepted. You’ve got to go and break down those walls and say, ‘This is my space now too,’ he stated to Out.
Lil Nas X also explained that trying to put on a hard persona of a rapper was something he had a hard time embracing.
“Mentally, it’s really draining and straining sometimes. The pressure of living your entire life knowing the identity of what a rapper is supposed to be, what rappers [are supposed to] do, and going out there in front of all these people, it’s terrifying. [The BET performance] was like jumping in a lake full of sharks and piranhas. And I’ve had to do that so many times within these last three years. Even coming out, that was terrifying,” he further commented in the interview.
Lil Nas X also addressed growing up as a child and having to hear homophobic slurs from people within his own family and community.
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