Lil Nas X
recently sat down with CBS Sunday Morning to talk about his career,
and the outspoken artist had some choice words for the music industry regarding
how it expects LGBTQ+ artists to “sanitize” their sexuality — and why he
refused to play that game.
Lil Nas X
burst onto the scene with his viral hit “Old Town Road” and he chose that
moment to come out because, as he explained to the program’s host, it was when
it felt most “authentic” to do so.
“It’s like,
I’m not doing it for attention. I’m already like the number one artist in the
world right now,” he said.
Since coming
out, Lil Nas X has been utterly unapologetic about his sexuality, something he
says is counter to the expectations put on LGBTQ+ artists in the music
industry.
“I feel like
I’m definitely much more ‘out there’ with it,” he told CBS Sunday Morning.
“It’s always been, ‘OK, if you’re gay, this needs to be sanitized. Let’s not
include anything sexual.’ It’s like, ‘Be gay without being gay. We don’t wanna
know what happens behind closed doors, or we don’t want you to express that.’”
It’s no
question that the “Old Town Road” singer has bucked that tradition, and it’s
paying off for him. His debut EP, Montero, is a celebration of
queer love and sex, and his music videos don’t shy away from depicting his
sexuality either. The result of his total authenticity? Montero debuted
at No. 1 on the Billboard chart, features three No. 1 songs (so far), has hit
two billion streams on Spotify, and earned the out artist five Grammy
nominations including Album of the Year.
The “Industry
Baby” singer has found success with his unapologetically queer approach. Or as
Lil Nas X himself put it, “I’m gonna do that if I want to. And I want every
other artist to feel the same way.”
SOURCE: ADVOCATE
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