His next songs "Panini" and "Rodeo" received attention, but nothing he released reached the heights of "Old Town Road." And his 2019 EP 7 didn't perform as well as hoped. (1918–1976) Follow-Up Songs and First AlbumĪfter the success of "Old Town Road," Nas signed with Columbia Records in March 2019. After appearing at a Pride concert at the Glastonbury Festival, he instructed his fans to "listen closely" to his song "C7osure (You Like)" to reveal he was gay. On June 30, 2019, the end of Pride Month, Nas publicly came out. His father at first asked if Nas was being tempted by the devil, but came to accept and fully support his son. He first came out to his sister and brother, then shared the truth with his father. Coming OutĪs his fame grew, Nas decided to stop hiding his sexuality. With help from remixes by Cyrus and others, "Old Town Road" set a record for staying atop the Hot 100 chart for 19 weeks. On April 5, 2019, he released a remix of "Old Town Road" that he made with Billy Ray Cyrus, a 1990s country star who Nas knew from his role on Hannah Montana.
(Billboard said race was not a factor.)Īmid this controversy, the song reached No.
Billboard's official reasoning was that Nas's song did "not embrace enough elements of today's country music," but many wondered if his being a Black man had influenced the decision. Then it was removed from the country chart. In March 2019, "Old Town Road" made it onto three Billboard charts: the Hot 100, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Country Songs. His social media abilities helped the tune go viral on TikTok and spread on other sites. Nas posted the tune to SoundCloud in December 2018. "I was like, 'I gotta make it short, I gotta make it catchy.'" With a beat purchased online for $30, he created his own country-trap song, titled "Old Town Road." "It was the first song I genuinely formulated," he told Rolling Stone. He saw the popularity of country-trap videos, which mixed country music and a Southern style of hip-hop. 'Old Town Road'Īfter leaving college, Nas lived with his sister while sharing his music online. He decided to drop out of school to focus on that, to his father's dismay. He wrote songs and found he loved creating music. Nas enrolled in the University of West Georgia to study computer science, but he didn't like college.
On Twitter as Nas interacted with other Minaj admirers - the Barbz - and learned how to get attention on social media. His main focus was online life as a superfan of Nicki Minaj. At one point, "I even thought, 'If I have these feelings, it's just a test. His father was a gospel singer and Nas had to attend church. As he got older, he witnessed the bullying and homophobia people who came out had to deal with and decided he would always stay in the closet. Nas has said he was aware he was gay since he was 5 years old.
After being taught homosexuality was wrong when he was growing up, Nas conveys the message that he would like gay relationships to become so accepted by society that they are rendered unremarkable. The record contains hits like "Industry Baby" and "Montero (Call Me by Your Name)" the personal tune "Sun Goes Down" addresses how a young Nas grappled with being gay. Nas has the social media savvy to make his work stand out in a crowded landscape, which helped with his breakthrough "Old Town Road." Nas then created a meaningful, yet still attention-grabbing, first album: Montero (2021). His stage name combines "Lil" (a common naming trope for rappers), "Nas" from a Twitter account he ran while a devoted fan of Nicki Minaj and "X" as the Roman numeral 10 (the number of years he thought it would take to find fame). Lil Nas X was born as Montero Lamar Hill in 1999. American rapper Lil Nas X's song "Old Town Road" became a viral hit in 2019 his first album 'Montero' (2021) was also a success.