Someone get Boosie some water. Lil Nas X has been named one of the 100 most influential people of 2021 by Time magazine.
Besides his record-breaking, mega-selling debut single, “Old Town Road,” Lil Nas X has been a national news mainstay due to the eye-popping theatrics on social media, his audacious red carpet attire, very provocative videos, and his efforts to push the LGBTQ agenda in hip-hop.
Nas, who was born in Atlanta as Montero Lamar Hill 22 years ago, has forcefully pushed the boundaries of acceptability when he, for example, filmed the video “Industry Baby,” where took a shower with other naked men in prison.
Nas seems to be rewarded by the industry for his brand of artistry. He just took home five MTV Awards last week, including Video of the Year.
These things have incited the fury of rappers Boosie and DaBaby, both of whom have gone off on public homophobic tirades in recent months.
Fellow rapper Kid Cudi told Time that Nas will be the one to shatter the homophobic barriers that still exist in hip-hop.
“There’s a homophobic cloud over hip-hop, and he’s going to break that s— down. We have to stand with him. I’m going to do whatever I have to do to let him know — you have my support,” Kid Cudi said.
“Lil Nas X is a new twist on some of the themes I was riding on when I first started out: being true to yourself and not giving a f— what anyone says. What he’s doing is what we need right now. To have a gay man in hip-hop doing his thing, crushing records — that is huge for us and for Black excellence.”
