Lil Nas X says Frank Ocean and Tyler, The Creator made it easier for him to come out
Frank Ocean and Tyler, The Creator’s bravery in publicly coming out inspired Lil Nas X’s confidence to do the same, he says.
Speaking with Zane Lowe in an Apple Music interview, Nas said: “Artists like Frank and Tyler made it easier for me to be where I am, comfortably.” He also claimed that Ocean’s 2017 single ‘Provider’ was “a very special song to me during this relationship I was in”.
Back in July 2019, following the release of his hit single ‘Old Town Road‘, the rapper came out as gay with the hope of helping people to feel more confident in their sexuality.
Reflecting on his coming out experience, Lil Nas X stated: “I was just getting signs, ‘Okay, it’s time to do this thing’. Because it’s like I’m already moving forward and I’m becoming more free with everything I do, so let’s take this to the next level and do this, it was either going to be that, or what? Pretend this for the rest of my entire life?”
Lil Nas X hopes to become a role model for people struggling with their sexuality in the same way Frank Ocean and Tyler, the Creator were to him. “Being one of those people that was like, ‘Okay, I want to make room for you now’. So everybody who’s coming behind me (will think), ‘This is going to be cool. It’s going to work out fine’.”
“That’s another reason why I knew that I had to do it,” he concluded. “Especially given my platform, where I am, the communities that I stand in between. It’s like, little shit like this shouldn’t be a problem.”
Last month, Lil Nas X released his new single ‘Holiday’ and performed it for the first time in a virtual concert on the online gaming platform Roblox. The track is the first single to be released from his forthcoming debut album.
