Did Lil Nas X End Pride Month by Coming Out?
July 1, 2019
Now that Lil Nas X has shaken up the music scene on both sides of the sonic fence, he’s now poised to rile up fans (and non fans) by hinting that he’s gay.
Taking to Twitter to share his thoughts, the rapper began his tease with a reference to his song “C7osure,” asking fans to listen to the lyrics more closely. “Some of y’all already know, some of y’all don’t care, some of y’all not gone fwm no more. but before this month ends i want y’all to listen closely to c7osure.”
The lyrics in “C7osure” are a bit ambiguous and can be left to interpretation. However, pairing his call to scrutinize the lyrics with a rainbow emoji on the last day of Pride Month may have pushed listeners to make some assumptions about his sexuality.
“Ain’t no more acting, man that forecast say I should just let me grow / No more red light for me baby, only green, I gotta go / Pack my past up in the back and let my future take a hold / This is what I gotta do, can’t be regretting when I’m old.”
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Lil Nas X quickly followed up this bombshell tweet with another one, this brief post being a bit less cryptic in context. Pulling out the album cover for his latest EP, 7, the rapper seemed to zero in on a rainbow-colored theme present throughout the urban scenery on offer.
While the controversial yet supremely talented hip hop creator hasn’t explicitly come out as gay, you’ll probably see a bunch of publications with headlines stating he’s declared his sexual orientation. That being said, Lil Nas X, himself, hasn’t made a statement on the subject one way or another, despite the strong hints.
One Twitter user also followed suit with this well-founded assumption, writing on the popular social media platform that: “lil nas came out as guy that’s cool.”
In response, Lil Nas X quoted this commenter and quipped, “it’s true I am a guy,” showing that he certainly has a bit of a quick wit as well as a sharp stage presence.
The rapper rose to fame when the uproar surrounding “Old Town Road” reached a fever pitch as the song debuted at No. 19 on Billboard’s country music charts. Country fans took up arms against the inclusion of Lil Nas X’s fusion of rap and country on the lists, and the song ended up being reclassified to suit the tastes of these critics.
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Needless to say, Lil Nas X fans were thrilled by his power bottom pride.
Lil Nas X is also winning praise from sex workers and experts for speaking candidly about power bottoming.
Gemma Glitter, a Canada-based dominatrix, told PinkNews that the singer is “blowing open mainstream conversations of sexuality” by discussing topics often confined to sex clubs, bathhouses and anonymous Twitter accounts.
“He’s changing what ‘open’ conversations about sexuality can look like – the same way that being able to talk about queer attraction did,” Glitter explained.
“Every time we haul these conversations into the mainstream, a segment of society gets to come out of the shadows and stop being ashamed of who they are and what they enjoy.
“People might know what they want but they won’t be able to talk about it without the words – someone like Lil Nas X using the term ‘power bottom’ means that there are absolutely people out there who just discovered the word for what they like – and that’s huge.
“Representation matters, and all we need is one queer Black man who talks about power bottoming for a generation of people to feel seen, and for a whole culture shift in discussion to follow.”
Is Lil Nas X Really Gay? We Tell You Everything about His Sexuality
Lil Nas X is a young American rapper, singer, and songwriter whose official name is Montero Lamar Hill. The rapper rose to prominence when he released his single “Old Town Road” in 2018. Nas’ song was perfect timing when TikTok was on the rise to become one of the best social media platforms. His song went viral when it was used as a soundtrack on the platform leading to his global popularity.
Cosmopolitan UK, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
As expected, Nas’ global recognition led to him gaining a huge followership both on social media and in person. Winning a Grammy award also played a part in making him more famous globally. Many fans wanted to know more about his personal life, including gender identity and sexuality.
At the age of nineteen, Lil Nas X was bold enough to come out as gay when he saw no need in hiding in the closet. His coming out, however, was something he had never planned considering his background and modest family.
Also see: Is Ariana Grande Bisexual? We Tell You Everything about Her Sexuality
The singer lived in a small town in Atlanta, Georgia where he was schooled. As a teenager, Lil Nas X knew that he was gay but would never come out to his friends and family. His original plan was to live with the secret to the grave because of what he had witnessed people go through for coming out. Nas didn’t want to experience the homophobia, rejection, and social isolation that his friends went through. “The honest truth is, I planned to die with the secret,” he said in an interview with the Guardian.
The Grammy award-winning rapper said in an interview with CBS that he saw the need to come out because he had received all the attention around the world. “Would’ve been the most authentic time. It’s like I’m not doing it for attention. I’m already like the number one artist in the world right now,” he explained in the interview.
As he continued to become popular, Nas took to social media to respond to the questions that he had received about his sexuality. He hinted to his social media followers worldwide that he might be bisexual after all. In a tweet, he said, “Be Fr, would y’all be mad at me if I thought I was a little bisexual.” his tweet amassed more than two hundred thousand likes before the singer concluded with another tweet suggesting that it was the last time he was coming out.
Fabebk, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Lil Nas X admits that coming out as gay was not an easy decision but he had to do it anyway. He loved fashion and would watch gay fashion on his phone without letting anybody know. Today he is a free person who can wear whatever he wants. He has become an icon in the LGBTQ+ community, fighting for their rights by all means.
Check out: Tyler Posey: We Tell You About His Fluid Sexuality and Gender Identity
The rapper said in an interview with CBS that a lot of work needs to be done to help people accept the LGBTQ+ community in society. Despite Nas being comfortable today, many young boys are afraid of coming out and he would be their example.
Therefore, it is easy to conclude, based on evidence that Lil Nas X is gay, and also partially identifies as bisexual.
The rapper, who rose to fame from country-trap hit ‘Old Town Road’, is currently working on his debut album MONTERO
10August 2021TextHannah Bertolino
Lil Nas X – autumn 20198
Over the weekend (August 6), Lil Nas X hinted at a return to his country music roots.
Taking to Twitter, the rapper stated: “After I drop the album I will be finish with my gay era and returning to my cowboy era.”
Lil Nas X originally rose to fame in 2018 from his country-trap single “Old Town Road”, which became the longest-running number one song in US chart history. After dropping multiple remixes – including the most popular which featured country music artist Billy Ray Cyrus – the musician released tracks “Panini” and “Rodeo”.
However, gearing up for his debut album MONTERO, which was announced in a cinema-style trailer on social media, the rapper has changed up his style and sound – mostly focusing on hip hop and often using his performances to express his sexuality. In doing so, the artist has been subjected to extreme amounts of homophobia online.
In March, Lil Nas released the music video for the album’s first single “Call Me By Your Name (Montero)” which received backlash from angry parents and right-wing viewers due to the rapper giving the devil a lap dance and pole dancing into hell. His fans, however, celebrated the song’s expression of queer sexuality and creativity.
In a performance of the single at the BET awards in June, he snogged two of his dancers on-stage.
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In July, he dropped the record’s second single, “Industry Baby”, which was produced by Kanye West. Some fans criticised the music video, which showed the rapper in a five-year sentence at Montero State Prison, where he dances naked in the shower before escaping with the help of featured artist Jack Harlow.
“White corporate music execs funded a music video with Lil Nas X, where a bunch of Black men are in prison twerking,” writes one Twitter user. “And the lone white man, Jack Harlow, is sexually involved with a FEMALE guard. But all the Black men are sexually engaging with each other. This is progress?”
Responding, Lil Nas said: “Lemme explain. Lil nas = gay, so he wit boy. jack harlow = straight, so he wit girl. got it??”
As MONTERO’s release date is still unannounced, there’s no telling when this era will finish. In the meantime, one fan on Twitter suggested, “how about a gay cowboy era?” We’re here for it.
Watch the MONTERO teaser below.
What is a power bottom, and how is it different to regular bottoming?
In queer sex, the “bottom” is generally the receptive person – however, dynamics can differ significantly depending on the relationship or the setting.
According to Glitter: “Power bottoming is when someone who generally takes a receptive position – whether that be penetration, pain, or discipline – takes more agency in the situation. Power bottoming is when the bottom takes control in some ways.”
Lil Nas X opening up about being a power bottom is important because of the enduring stigma bottoms face, Glitter said.
“The reality is that there are no tops without bottoms – all us tops aren’t f**king ourselves. This idea that someone who is a bottom should just lay there and take it is rooted in misogyny – traditionally women are expected to bottom in heterosexual relationships, and they are expected to just be the vehicles for their partners’ pleasure.
“That has carried over into how we talk about bottoms and how they are expected to act – meek, compliant, and grateful for the attention, without any of their own desires.”
Glitter continued: “The more we talk about the variety of sex that’s possible, the more information people have – and that leads to better, safer, more fun sex for everyone.”
This is not the first time Lil Nas X has been interrogated on his sexual position – in April, the singer criticised fans for asking whether he prefers to top or bottom.
He joked that he’s not “a bunk bed kinda guy”, before telling fans that the “top and bottom s**t” in the gay community has become “a huge form of misogyny”.
“It’s like how you n****s misogynists? You’re all gay, you’re f****ts. We’re all f****ts.”
“It took a lot for me to come out of my comfort zone”
Lil Nas X’s self-presentation in “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” is a stark contrast from his persona when “Old Town Road” stormed into the public consciousness two years ago. When that song first hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 2019, Lil Nas had not yet come out to anyone; he was still singing about cheating on a female partner and “bull riding and boobies.” In an interview with TIME later that year, he said he had been taught from a young age that homosexuality “is never going to be O.K.”
Read more: Inside the Record-Breaking Rise of Lil Nas X
The musician elaborated on the shame he previously felt in a letter published on Friday, addressed to his 14-year-old self. “I know we promised to never come out publicly, I know we promised to never be ‘that’ type of gay person, I know we promised to die with the secret,” he wrote.
But Lil Nas came out during pride month in 2019, and since has been experimenting with presentations of queerness and gender that are extremely rare for a mainstream male pop star of his stature. Last Halloween, he dressed up as Nicki Minaj; on his November single “Holiday,” he slipped in a lyric about being a “bottom on the low.”
In the music video for “Montero,” he goes even further: he makes out with himself while playing both a snakeskin-wearing version of Eve and a humanoid serpent in the Garden of Eden; dons a Marie Antoinette-like wig and outfit while getting stoned to death at the Coliseum; and descends to hell on a stripper pole before delivering a graphic strip tease, wearing only Calvin Klein boxers, to the devil. “I’m not fazed, only here to sin/ If Eve ain’t in your garden, you know that you can call me when you want,” he sings.
“Given the moment we live in when individual freedoms are being challenged through things like voter suppression laws, it feels good to see a young Black gay man flout conventional and social norms in the face of so much nonsense,” Steven Fullwood, the co-founder of The Nomadic Archivists Project and a scholar of Black LGBTQ history, says. “I think Black LGBTQ life has been outlawed in general. For the freedom-seeking folks, here’s an example of a freedom-seeking artist.”
Lil Nas shot the video in February, co-directing it with the rising Ukrainian film artist Tanu Muino, who also directed Cardi B’s current number one hit “Up.” “It took a lot for me to come out of my comfort zone and do these things in front of an audience of people,” Lil Nas says.
But while performing such a public strip tease might have been an uncomfortable act for him, Lil Nas says he has become emboldened over the last year to express himself more freely. “Throughout quarantine, I’ve kind of grown into myself a lot more. I’ve become a much more confident version of myself, and very much more determined and intentional on every single thing that I do,” he says.
In conceptualizing the video, Lil Nas drew inspiration from recent cultural touchpoints, including Spongebob Squarepants, which he frequently posts memes of online; the queer romantic drama Call Me By Your Name directed by Luca Guadagnino; and the FKA twigs music video “Cellophane.” In the latter video, the singer, dancer and artist twigs also reaches upward toward a celestial, winged being before descending down a long pole into a purgatorial-like space. “I wanted to see some things people have done in music videos with the pole—and I felt like twigs did a really amazing job at that,” Lil Nas says. “I wanted to do my own take on it.”
Why Do We Care About Lil Nas X Coming Out?
Lil Nas X tweeted Tuesday July 2, “just cause I’m gay doesn’t mean I’m not straight.”
It’s true that in this day and age, sexuality shouldn’t be a big deal. If straight people don’t have to come out, then why do gay people? That’s all true, but obvs not everyone agrees. And the reason Lil Nas X has an impact here is because he talks about bisexuality.
The above tweet opens up a discussion on bi-erasure, which is a topic we don’t see talked about enough. Even in the LGBTQ+ community, there can be a mentality arround the validity of bisexual identity.
Plus, bisexuality around men is so topical because people are so quick to label any queer men as only gay, and often refuse to acknowledge other aspects of identity. Many think if a man is interested in another man he’s gay, point blank. But apparently women can be interested in other women, and and still be valid in liking men. Or you know, that nasty narrative of “being bi is just a phase till you figure out what you want.” Ummm. No.
Bisexual people are often pushed to “pick a side,” as if everything is so black and white. And talking about bisexuality in men is way more prominent than people realise. Needless to say, bisexuals need more representation, so we’re super happy that Lil Nas X is providing some.
Plus, being openly queer in the rap community is not something we see much of. the fact that a rapper just came out as bisexual could hopefully mean we’ll be seeing an alternative to the “fucking bitches” narrative of so many popular artists.
While I truly hope one day not every one who’s a prominent figure will need to “come out” and make a statement to the public about their sexuality, every person who does is paving the way and breaking the barriers of what sexuality looks like. A country African American rapper can be bi. Not everyone fits in the tiny box of what society deems a gay person looks like or acts like.
It’s a pretty significant act for an upcoming young rapper to make. But, now just as ever before, Lil Nas X just wants to be himself. And in doing so, he’s encouraging others to do the same.
Image Source: @LilNasX
“More open-mindedness amongst humanity as a whole”
Lil Nas spent the weekend gleefully clapping back against other detractors on Twitter who were fixated on Lil Nas’ alleged Satanic connections, including the conservative commentator Candace Owens, the basketball player Nick Young and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem. Many were particularly aggrieved by Lil Nas’ announcement of the sale of “Satan Shoes,” which are modified Nike Air Max 97s that supposedly contain a drop of human blood. (Nike denied involvement with their creation in a statement.) After Noem tweeted in regards to the shoes that “We are in a fight for the soul of our nation,” Lil Nas responded: “Ur a whole governor and u on here tweeting about some damn shoes. do ur job!”
Lil Nas also posted a screenshot of a text sent to him from his father—which read “live life your own terms. Very PROUD of you”—and announced that his debut album, also called Montero, would arrive this summer.
While the discourse has veered all over the place—to include Satanic worship, artistic theft and human blood—Lil Nas hopes that his younger fans watch his video and take away a message of “more acceptance, more open-mindedness amongst humanity as a whole. I want kids,” he says, “to know that they don’t have to harm themselves—and that they’re capable and worthy.”
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Личная жизнь
Поклонников, которые активно следят за творчеством Ламара, интересует его личная жизнь. Парень предпочитает не распространяться о том, как проходит его повседневная жизнь и есть ли у него пара.
Однако в конце июня этого года в своем твиттер-аккаунте парень решил немного пооткровенничать со своими поклонниками. Для этого была выбрана дата 30 июня. Стоит отметить, что Ламар выбрал этот день не случайно, так как этого числа отмечается день гордости, во время которого проводятся многочисленные акции, направленные на демонстрацию существования в современном обществе ЛГБТ. Также в день гордости поднимаются проблемы толерантности по отношению к людям с нетрадиционной ориентацией.
Поклонники и ряд СМИ посчитали, что при помощи этого поста в «Твиттере» Ламар решил признаться в том, что он является гомосексуалистом. Нужно сказать, что большинство поклонников восприняло эту информацию спокойно. Многие начали восхищаться Ламаром, так как у него хватило смелости признаться в своей ориентации и рассказать об этом не только своим фанатам, но и всему миру.
Lil Nas X’s Coming Out Statement:
The US rapper took to Twitter to say, “some of y’all already know, some of y’all don’t care, some of y’all not gone fwm no more. but before this month ends i want y’all to listen closely to c7osure.” He ends his tweet with a rainbow flag, a symbol associated with pride.
Along with his statement came everyone who had an opinion on it. And the major thing worth noting is that people really think they know a gay person when they see one. Yet, that’s plainly just not how sexuality works. On top of that, a conversation opened on Twitter of whether or not people can still listen to his music.
Lil Nas X cut to the chase about the people who won’t support him anymore in his first tweet. He knew his coming out of the closet would lead to a loss of some fans, but that didn’t stop him. According to the lyrics of ‘c7osure’, “I want and I need to let go. Use my time to be free.” And free he is.
Why Do We Care About Lil Nas X Coming Out?
Lil Nas X tweeted Tuesday July 2, “just cause I’m gay doesn’t mean I’m not straight.”
It’s true that in this day and age, sexuality shouldn’t be a big deal. If straight people don’t have to come out, then why do gay people? That’s all true, but obvs not everyone agrees. And the reason Lil Nas X has an impact here is because he talks about bisexuality.
The above tweet opens up a discussion on bi-erasure, which is a topic we don’t see talked about enough. Even in the LGBTQ+ community, there can be a mentality arround the validity of bisexual identity.
Plus, bisexuality around men is so topical because people are so quick to label any queer men as only gay, and often refuse to acknowledge other aspects of identity. Many think if a man is interested in another man he’s gay, point blank. But apparently women can be interested in other women, and and still be valid in liking men. Or you know, that nasty narrative of “being bi is just a phase till you figure out what you want.” Ummm. No.
Bisexual people are often pushed to “pick a side,” as if everything is so black and white. And talking about bisexuality in men is way more prominent than people realise. Needless to say, bisexuals need more representation, so we’re super happy that Lil Nas X is providing some.
Plus, being openly queer in the rap community is not something we see much of. the fact that a rapper just came out as bisexual could hopefully mean we’ll be seeing an alternative to the “fucking bitches” narrative of so many popular artists.
While I truly hope one day not every one who’s a prominent figure will need to “come out” and make a statement to the public about their sexuality, every person who does is paving the way and breaking the barriers of what sexuality looks like. A country African American rapper can be bi. Not everyone fits in the tiny box of what society deems a gay person looks like or acts like.
It’s a pretty significant act for an upcoming young rapper to make. But, now just as ever before, Lil Nas X just wants to be himself. And in doing so, he’s encouraging others to do the same.
Image Source: @LilNasX
Questions around the video’s influences
Some people, however, said after the release of “Montero” that its pole segment hewed too closely to twigs’, and accused him of plagiarism. One of the people bothered by the two videos’ visual and conceptual overlaps was Andrew Thomas Huang, who himself directed twigs’ “Cellophane” video. Huang says that when he watched “Montero” for the first time, “the similarities were shocking.” He posted a message about the two videos’ similarities to his Instagram stories on Saturday.
“It put into perspective how small, indie artists like me and twigs don’t really don’t make a lot of money, and our platform is limited because we’re trying hard to make challenging work,” Huang tells TIME. “When someone who is commercially successful makes work that lives so similarly next to ours and profits from it on such a massive scale, then I felt like I had to speak up.”
Huang, who has directed videos for Björk, Perfume Genius and others, says he was particularly incensed by the similarities given that he himself was tapped by Lil Nas’ label Columbia Records to possibly direct “Montero.” “I was excited because I like Lil Nas,” Huang says. “Then they went silent and said they pivoted away.”
While Huang is hurt by the fact that the video seems to ape his video with FKA twigs, he makes clear that he does not place the blame on Lil Nas X himself. “I think twigs and Lil Nas are both doing important work. The question is, who benefits from their work? The answer is record labels,” Huang says. “The anger it stokes between artists just increases divisions between underrepresented artists. So I think there’s something larger and systemic here at work.”
In an Instagram post on March 30, FKA twigs defused the controversy on Instagram, writing, “thank you @lilnasx for our gentle honest conversations and for acknowledging the inspiration cellophane gave you and your creative team in creating your iconic video! i think what you have done is amazing and i fully support your expression and bravery in pushing culture forward for the queer community. legend status.”
A representative for Columbia Records declined to respond to TIME’s request for a reaction to Huang’s comments and also declined to make Lil Nas X available for a follow-up interview.