Kid Cudi says Lil Nas X will ‘break homophobic cloud over hip-hop’
Cudi wrote an essay for 'Time' Magazine after Nas X was named one of 100 most influential people in 2021
Lil Nas X has consistently pushed boundaries as an openly gay rapper, and fellow artist Kid Cudi is cheering him on. In a recent essay for TIME‘s 100 most influential people of 2021, Cudi writes that Lil Nas X will “break the homophobic cloud over hip-hop.”
With his jaw-dropping music videos, red carpet-stealing look at Monday’s Met Gala, and his debut album set to drop on Friday Lil Nas X is one of the biggest names in pop culture today. As an openly gay rapper, his mere presence has received some feedback, but it doesn’t seem to be anything he can’t handle, as he continues to push boundaries and stand in his truth.
His influence has clearly made an impact, as TIME named the rapper one of the most influential people in the world in 2021.
In a stirring tribute to the rapper, Kid Cudi shares his thoughts on his rapid ascent and what it means for hip-hop at large. Cudi writes in his essay, “Lil Nas X is a new twist on some of the themes I was riding on when I first started out: being true to yourself and not giving a f-ck what anyone says. What he’s doing is what we need right now.”
He continues to speak to the power of having an openly gay man in the industry doing what Nas X is doing right now, calling him “a true rock star”.
He writes, “To have a gay man in hip-hop doing his thing, crushing records—that is huge for us and for Black excellence. The way he’s unafraid to make people uncomfortable is so rock ’n’ roll. He’s a true rock star.”
He then referred to one of Nas X’s tweet’s in which he revealed maybe other male rappers “don’t want to work” with him. He writes, “…that made me sad. There’s a homophobic cloud over hip-hop, and he’s going to break that sh-t down. We have to stand with him. I’m going to do whatever I have to do to let him know—you have my support. When we do our song together, however trippy the video is, let’s get sexy with it.”
Lil Nas X has been busy promoting Montero, which drops on Friday, and stopped by The Breakfast Club and gave a particularly revealing interview. He shared to the hosts that he has learned a lot about himself in the past few years, and is much more comfortable in who he is and his sexuality.
“I’m really aware of myself [and] a lot of my hypocritical actions and what not…my videos are much more sexual and what not, and I used to be happy that people would be like, ‘Oh he’s not like those other gay people, like all flamboyant,'” he said.
He added, “That’s not a compliment, you know?!” He continued to share that he wants his videos to be entertaining, and that he actually enjoys all aspects of his videos, especially the flamboyant parts.
Check out Nas X’s interview on The Breakfast Club below, and read Kid Cudi’s full essay on Nas X here.
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