A LIL COMING OUT
Not Madonna at World Pride. Not Kylie at Glastonbury. The biggest news in pop this year is young rap sensation Lil Nas X outing himself.
Not Madonna at World Pride. Not Kylie at Glastonbury. The gayest news in pop this year is Lil Nas X.
Sunday, June 30, 2019 was momentous for three big reasons. One, obvs, it was the culmination of World Pride in NYC with Madonna hauling her LGBTIQ fans through her legacy of hits. Secondly, it was the end of the world’s greatest music festival, Glastonbury, with Kylie, Janet Jackson, Bananarama and The Cure taking to the stage to remind us that pop is not just a passing phase for teens but a truly gratifying lifelong passion.
Also nestled comfortably among that prestigious line-up was Miley Cyrus, who brought her dad, country music legend Billy Ray Cyrus, and rap star Lil Nas X on stage with
her. Why? Well, Billy Ray and Nas collaborated on a remix of the song Old Town Road, which is now the biggest selling hip-hop record of all time, surpassing everything by Drake, and which hit #1 globally. Finally, we come to the third reason June 30 was so important – it was the day Lil Nas X chose to come out.
The 20-year-old, who has just released his debut record 7EP was, reportedly, so inspired by the waves of love he felt at Glastonbury, performing to over 180,000 people, plus the global flow-on effect of World Pride, that he let drop the fact he is gay.
Lil Nas X literally went from rocking the stage with Miley and her dad to hitting Twitter to obliquely announce his homosexuality:
“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. [rainbow emoji].
Tabloid website TMZ added, “We’re told he was tired of being closeted.” TMZ also reported that Miley and Billy Ray were “thrilled” to hear Nas had come out and fully supported him.
All this information suddenly put 7EP, his debut long-player, into a whole new light. The eight tracks comprise six new tracks and two versions of Old Town Road. Lil Nas’ suggestion that we pay attention to his new track C7osure led to the speculation about his coming out.
The track’s lyrics include, “Embrace this news I behold unfolding/I know it don’t feel like it’s time/But I look at this moment and I’ll see that I’m fine”. He later sings about how he “set boundaries for myself/It’s time to cross the line” and that he wants to “use my time to be free” and “can’t be regrettin’ when I’m old”.
His tweets also made sure we didn’t miss the fact that on the cover of his record he’s heading towards a city with a glowing rainbow skyscraper. “Deadass I thought I made it obvious,” he tweeted.
As you’d expect, there’s more of the same sound on 7EP, which includes contributions from Madonna’s trend-conscious producer Diplo, female rap sensation Cardi B, and hit songwriter Ryan Tedder. Although, on the track Rodeo, Nas mumble raps about going off and having sex with a girl. Perhaps he’s bi, sexually fluid or just an equal opportunity fuck.
A day before Nas initiated the process of his coming out, Forbes magazine examined his career, detailing how he’s gone from being an unsigned artist before Christmas last year to now owning of the biggest record of 2019 with Old Town Road.
This amalgamation of country music and rap (“Country-Trap”), filtered through with clips from popular cowboy video game Red Dead Redemption and Justin Bieber’s endorsement has set Lil Nas X on the road to mega-stardom barely within six months.
The urban music scene remains a tough place to be anything other than straight. Frank Ocean, Tyler The Creator, Todrick Hall, Deadlee and Syd from The Internet are all openly somewhere on the LGBTIQ spectrum, and Lil Nas’ announcement is hardly likely to open any floodgates.
Though, it may be harder for the ’phobes in the music biz to argue with a gay young man with the best sales figures in the genre’s history.
Some of y’all already know, some of y’all don’t care, some of y’all not gone fwm no more…