Rapper Lil Nas X, best known for his viral rap-country hit “Old Town Road,” has come out of the closet.
The rapper, whose real name is Montero Lamar Hill, publicly came out Sunday in a Twitter post.
“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 end i want y’all to listen closely to c7osure,” he tweeted on, alluding to a song from his debut EP, “7EP.” He also attached a rainbow emoji.
In the song, the rapper doesn’t explicitly say that he is gay. But he does allude to feeling of wanting to “let go” and “be free.”
“Ain’t no more actin’, 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, oh, let my future take ahold/This is what I gotta do, can’t be regrettin’ when I’m old,” he raps.
Lil Nas X followed up with a second tweet that zeroes in on a tower lit up in the colour of the rainbow.
“Deadass thought i made it obvious,” he tweeted.
The rapper’s announcement coincided with the last day of Pride month as thousands of revellers in New York City marched in the streets to mark the 50th year anniversary since the Stonewall riots.
The announcement is major news for the rap and hip hop industry, where few musical artists have come out as gay or bisexual. Frank Ocean made headlines back in 2012 when he revealed in a Tumblr post that his first love was a man.
Lil Nas X was relatively unknown before he dropped “Old Town Road,” a track he recorded earlier this year with Billy Ray Cyrus. The song, which fuses elements of country and rap, became an overnight sensation and shot to the top of the U.S. charts.
The song also launched debates about race and country music after Billboard ejected the song from country charts, saying it didn’t fit within the genre. The move prompted backlash, with critics saying that Billboard made the decision because Lil Nas X is black. Billboard denied those allegations.
