Lil Nas X tried to expla why he me out as gay. Then Kev Hart terpted him | CNN

Contents:

• LIL NAS X TEMPORARILY DECIS HE'S NOT GAY AFTER LOSG AT THE GRAMMYS
• LIL NAS X TRIED TO EXPLA WHY HE ME OUT AS GAY. THEN KEV HART TERPTED HIM
• HOW LIL NAS X IS REVOLUTNIZG HIP-HOP AS AN EMPOWERED GAY STAR
• LIL NAS X JOK AND SAYS HE IS NO LONGER GAY AFTER LOSG AT GRAMMYS
• 'OLD TOWN ROAD' RAPPER LIL NAS X APPEARS TO E OUT AS GAY
• THE SUBVERSIVE JOY OF LIL NAS X’S GAY POP STARDOM
• LIL NAS X COM OUT AS GAY
• LIL NAS X'S SONG ABOUT GAY SEX EARNS 3 GRAMMY NOMATNS

LIL NAS X TEMPORARILY DECIS HE'S NOT GAY AFTER LOSG AT THE GRAMMYS

The mic ftival Lollapalooza dropped rapper DaBaby om s lp after he ma homophobic remarks. And so he's no stranger to the variety of out that queer people are often told by homophob or, you know, like, quote, unquote, "people who really re" about what might happen to him - whether he go to hell, whether he'll go to jail or he'll do this, that and the third.

It's almost like he's sayg, homophob don't actually have that great of an imagatn, and I do. Did you get the sense that the fa of beg imperv to all the homophobia and hatred - that ever drops?

You seem to only rpect gay artists when the gay part is tucked away. - where he is a gay pop star who's e out at the height of his fame or - you know, for all we know, he uld somehow get even bigger. We have so many gay pop stars but so few openly gay pop stars and even fewer gay pop stars who are explicly sexual.

LIL NAS X TRIED TO EXPLA WHY HE ME OUT AS GAY. THEN KEV HART TERPTED HIM

But what Lil Nas X do is he mak gay sex jt as part of his entire persona as a, you know, name lerally any straight pop star ever. I am now no longer gay!

His ment uld be a reference to the fact that he won two Grammy Awards for the song "Old Town Road" before he had publicly e out as gay. But others were outraged by the gay, Grammy Award-wng pop star for offendg them wh the vio’s homoeroticism. Homophobic backlash epted on social media – and didn’t stop there.

In the same week, rapper DaBaby was rerd sultg gay men and sharg misrmatn about HIV durg a performance at the mic ftival Rollg Loud.

HOW LIL NAS X IS REVOLUTNIZG HIP-HOP AS AN EMPOWERED GAY STAR

And Boosie were quick to make a nnectn to the artist and the “Indtry Baby” vio, wh Boosie gog as far to e homophobic slurs and threateng to “beat [Lil Nas X’s] a**. “There’s still that general sentiment that this type of rapper, a gay, male rapper, isn’t reprentative of masculy, ” Oware said.

Lil Nas X is the first star of his kd – Black, gay, genre-bendg, Gen Z and award-wng. ” Through his chart-toppg songs, he explor trop – longg, dreams and dreams, pe – an explic manner, embracg his sir as a gay Black man.

“I feel like that’s really important for reprentatn general, and this is gonna open more doors for one day when somebody says this, ’s like, ‘Oh, that person said that and I didn’t thk about , ’ ” Lil Nas X said earlier this year of his ambn to normalize gay sex, to vanquish mastream squeamishns about . The clip for “Montero” – the full name nods to the 2007 gay g-of-age novel and s breathtakg 2017 film adaptatn – is chockablock wh referenc to the Bible. After the show, Lil Nas X snaps the vil’s neck and dons his horns – a lic subversn, a rollickg rebe of the hellfire that gay people are often promised: No weapon that is formed agast thee shall prosper, Lil Nas X seems to say, wh a wk.

LIL NAS X JOK AND SAYS HE IS NO LONGER GAY AFTER LOSG AT GRAMMYS

At night, he asks that God take away his gay thoughts.

'OLD TOWN ROAD' RAPPER LIL NAS X APPEARS TO E OUT AS GAY

Lil Nas X is gettg praise for how he handled a nversatn about homosexualy wh edian Kev Hart.

Before the rapper uld rpond, Hart – who stepped down om hostg the Osrs 2018 after homophobic tweets he’d ma years earlier rurfaced – terjected. “He said he was gay, ” Hart said. “Homosexualy, gay people, ” Lil Nas said.

Lil Nas posted a seri of tweets on the last day of Pri month, where he tend to share wh his followers that he intifi as gay. A seri of homophobic tweets Hart ma between 2009 and 2011 drew public scty late last year.

THE SUBVERSIVE JOY OF LIL NAS X’S GAY POP STARDOM

What a difference a few trmatic months n make: The Nas who has reemerged is, he says, “a totally different person” — an outspoken and empowered gay man unaaid to exprs tth his art.

And while he avoids makg grandse statements about beg a pneer or a trailblazer for the LGBTQ muny — “Let’s fuck’ go, gay agenda! Rap and R&B artists om Frank Ocean and Tyler, the Creator (both of whom Nas acknowledg as spiratns) to Azealia Banks, Le1f and Janelle Monáe have announced, acknowledged, kd of acknowledged or simply not nied beg gay or bisexual. “Hontly, I believe the panmic helped me get out of the ia of tryg to please everybody, and the ia of ‘He’s a ol gay person; he’s an acceptable gay person, ’” Nas says.

’ Y’all hate gay ppl and don’t hi . ” On a lighter, more characteristic note, shortly after he me out publicly, he tweeted: “Jt got news that I’m gay and I will no longer be streamg my mic.

LIL NAS X COM OUT AS GAY

Intentnally or not, his prence as a proud, succsful gay man has led others to reveal their prejudic. At the time of this story’s publitn, no fewer than five major rappers — none of whom Nas had mentned songs or statements — have publicly and flagrantly displayed their homophobia rponse to his stance, most promently DaBaby.

“Historilly, there has been a lot of homophobia the hip-hop world, ” John ntu. “The hont tth is, I don’t want to speak on a lot of the homophobia wh rap bee I feel like this is a very dangero playg field, ” he says.

LIL NAS X'S SONG ABOUT GAY SEX EARNS 3 GRAMMY NOMATNS

“And I was really happy to see such an artsy gay film, you know? He says he realized he was gay as early as age 5. ” On his recent sgle “Sun Go Down, ” he sgs, “The gay thoughts would always hnt me / I prayed God would take om me.

At first he nied nng the fan acunts, later claimg he was ncerned that people would thk meant he was gay — before he stopped rg about that. “Before that, there was a guy who wasn’t my boyiend, but we met middle school and we talked, after we both found out that each other were gay.

Enunterg homophobia “bred a lot of self-hate, ” he reveals, “but also ma me stronger. "I know we promised to never e out publicly, I know we promised to never be ‘that’ type of gay person, I know we promised to die wh the secret, but this will open doors for many other queer people to simply exist, " he add that g out was difficult for him, and people acced him of "phg an agenda.