Lil Nas X doubts he would have come out if not for Old Town Road success

Artist is currently enjoying a number of new career milestones following the release of his debut album, ‘Montero’

Lil Nas X has revealed he doubts whether he would have come out as gay without the success of his breakthrough single “Old Town Road” in 2019.

Since publicly revealing he identifies as gay two years ago, the musician – real name Montero Lamar Hill – has been praised for challenging stereotypes about Black men in hip hop.

Speaking to XXL for its autumn 2021 issue, Lil Nas X explained he felt like it was his “duty” to come out amid the success of “Old Town Road”.

“I don’t think I would have ever come out,” he said. “I honestly felt like it was kind of my duty. Especially if I wanted to move forward. And [with] what I was doing, because authenticity is very real, and I feel like people can see right through that. And that’s a part of me.”

He also said he was concerned that people would judge him for “how I would act post-coming out”.

“I used to ‘like’ comments where people were like, ‘Oh, I like him, because he’s not all in your face about it,’” he recalled. “And then I kind of realised what that was. It’s kind of like when people say, ‘Oh, I have a Black friend, and that [sits on] everything that has to do with their Black history and culture... I’m kind of like, I’m not that person, you know?”

He made similar comments in a moving open letter to his younger self, which was published via Twitter in March this year.

“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, but this will open doors for many other queer people to simply exist,” he wrote.

“You see this is very scary for me. people will be angry, they will say I’m pushing an agenda. but the truth is, I am. the agenda to make people stay fuck out of other people’s lives and stop dictating who they should be.”

Lil Nas X achieved his latest career milestone this week when it emerged that he has three songs currently charting on the Billboard Hot 100, along with a Top 10 debut for his first studio album, Montero.

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In a five-star review, The Independent’s critic Helen Brown praised the album as “bursting with technicolour heart” and said it would remove any doubt that Lil Nas X was a “one-hit wonder”.