Lil Nas X Talks Coming Out on “Arts and Raps”

After releasing his newest single, “Call Me By Your Name (Montero),” Lil Nas X made an appearance on the kids’ YouTube show “Arts and Raps,” and he talked about coming out and being “unapologetically you” with the two young hosts. 

When one of the hosts asked him what it meant to come out of the closet, Lil Nas X explained that it involves telling people something about yourself they may not have known before. The host then told his own “closet story.”

“My older cousin keeps pushing my brother into the closet,” he said. “And we close the door, because we have a big walk-in closet, and blink the lights on and off, and then say ‘666’ or ‘Bloody Mary,’ and then he swore he saw something.” 

Lil Nas X, laughing, responded, “That’s exactly what happened to me. That’s exactly what I meant when I said I was coming out of the closet.” 

Later in the interview, the other young host asked Lil Nas X about being “unapologetically you,” wondering what it meant. Lil Nas X explained it “means doing yourself at all costs, no matter who’s watching.” He continued to talk about facing judgement from others. “It gets really hard, because everybody in the world, we always think about what everybody else is thinking about us and sometimes we forget to think about what we think about ourselves, you know?” He said. 

“I love that about you,” the host responded. “You really inspired me because you’re not afraid to be you and you’re not apologetic.” 

“Call Me By Your Name (Montero)” is currently at No. 1 on the global Spotify chart and No. 2 on Billboard’s Hot 100.