Lil Nas X has received another honor — this time, as one of GQ‘s 2021 Men of the Year.
The Atlanta rapper, along with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Tom Holland were each issued a cover and recognized for their “profound impact on” the culture. Lil Nas X is the outlet’s musician of the year, Antetokounmpo is the athlete of the year and Holland is the superhero of the year.
Lil Nas X has had two Billboard No. 1 singles in 2021 with “Industry Baby” and “Montero (Call Me By Your Name).” His music videos have garnered a lot of attention and he has been open about being a gay man, something hip-hop traditionally hasn’t seen.
“The landscape is very hypermasculine,” he told GQ.
In his interview for the cover shoot, Lil Nas X said what pushing the gay agenda means to him is normalizing little kids being gay and being themselves growing up. He said when he first became famous from the success of “Old Town Road,” he was concerned people were going to find out he was gay because he thought it would ruin everything. The rapper also said hip-hop is going to have several openly-gay and trans members in a decade and that he felt bad for DaBaby, who received recent criticism and lost endorsement deals for making homophobic comments at the Rolling Loud Festival in July.
“I’m not going to lie, I feel bad for DaBaby,” he said. “I hope he grows from it. I hope he’s able to.”
