Lil Nas X: his success and controversies in photos

This award-winning, head-turning rapper/musician has not had an easy ride. His unique style, music, and personality have seen him rise in popularity and fame and yet that same originality also sees him in a few spots of bother on occasion.

Take his recent tweet - a joke about him having a sex change - that many did not find funny and saw as insulting to the trans community. Not to mention the saga about the pregnancy in 2021 when he posted photos of himself with a baby bump to later give birth to his new album.

And yet, the man artistically known as Lil Nas X (but was born Montero Lamar Hill on 9 April 1999) is currently one of the most successful American rappers, singers, and songwriters of our time.

But the secret to his success? Well, it's not only thanks to his musical hits, such as 'Old Town Road', 'Montero (Call Me By Your Name)' and 'Industry Baby'; but also for having become an icon for the LGBT+ community.

Montero Lamar Hill, the son of a Dominican mother and British father, was born into a humble family in 1999 in Georgia, Atlanta (USA). His parents divorced when he was six years old.

At first, he moved into a modest public housing complex called Bankhead Courts, with his mother and grandmother. Then, from 2008 onwards, he lived with his father, a gospel singer. He didn't have many friends, so he took refuge on the Internet, where he became known for producing funny and original memes.

In 2018 he released 'Old Town Road', a song he had composed after buying the beat for $30 on the 'BeatStars' platform, created by a teenager in the Netherlands. It went viral, not only because of its catchy beat but also thanks to the challenges that came with it on the video app TikTok.

'Old Town Road' became a worldwide phenomenon and number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The song, with its country-rap style, debuted at number 19 on the Hot Country Songs chart, but Billboard dropped the track from the charts. Why? Billboard themselves commented to Rolling Stone that "while Old Town Road incorporates references to country and cowboy imagery, it does not embrace enough elements of today’s country music to chart in its current version."

It was rumored that the decision was actually due to pressure from certain groups and industry insiders who objected to a black singer being at number one on the country chart, a genre associated with the more deeply conservative classes of American society.

Photo: Still from the music video of 'Old Town Road'

Lil Nas' reaction was to do a remix with Billy Ray Cyrus himself, who is, in addition to Miley Cyrus' father, a complete legend in country music.

In celebration of LGBT+ Pride 2019, Lil Nas spoke openly about his homosexuality on Twitter, which generated some homophobic reactions on social media (some coming from the hip-hop and rap communities themselves).

"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 ends i want y'all to listen closely to c7osure,"
he wrote in the tweet in which he made his sexual orientation public.

Photo: Twitter @LilNasX

His song 'c7osure (You Like)' speaks about his sexuality. "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" the lyrics explain.

And Lil Nas X faced another controversy over the music video for 'Montero (Call Me by Your Name)', which some called Satanic. In the clip, the American artist shows you only need one actor to make a good music video. He gets into the role of over 10 characters, and at the end of the clip, assumes the role of Satan himself.

Photo: Still from music video 'Montero (Call Me by Your Name)'

The music video shocked many conservative sectors in the United States. It talks about sin, Heaven, Hell.... And, in general, about how Lil Nas intends to live and express his sexuality.

Shortly before releasing the music video for 'Montero', the artist posted a letter on Twitter in which he wrote to his past self:

"Dear 14-year-old montero," he wrote. "i wrote a song with our name in it. it's about a guy i met last summer. i know we promised to never come out publicly, i know we promised to never be 'that' type of gay person, i know we promised to die with the secret, but this will open doors for many other queer people to simply exist."

Photo: Twitter @LilNasX

"You see this is very scary for me," Lil Nas X continued, "people will be angry, they will say i'm pushing an agenda. but the truth is, i am. the agenda to make people stay the --- out of other people's lives and stop dictating who they should be. sending you love from the future."

Due to his deeply Christian upbringing, as a teenager, he suffered a conflict between religion and his sexual orientation. He reflects this in both his lyrics and music videos, specifically the previously mentioned, 'Montero.'

"In life, we hide the parts of ourselves that we don't want the world to see," says a voice-over. "We lock them away. We tell them no. We banish them. But here, we don't. Welcome to Montero."

Then Lil Nas X is evicted from what could be considered the Garden of Eden before descending into hell, where he dances on the lap of the devil, kills him, and then steals his satan horns.

For many who saw Lil Nas X enter the music industry, they assumed he was a phenomenon that would come to an end after his first song, but the young man has proved to be much more than a single hit and in September 2021 he released his first studio album, 'Montero', which includes collaborations with singers such as Miley Cyrus and Elton John.

Despite controversy and even having his music removed from streaming platforms due to a lawsuit from Nike after the singer created the 'Nike Air Jordan Satan Shoe' with a pentagram, bible verses, and human blood; Lil Nas X has successfully broken the rules of the music industry and is praised for his in-your-face-attitude and individuality.

And on the red carpet, he has certainly turned heads thanks to his daring outfits.

For all these reasons: the messages of his songs, his courage, his vision of life, and his look and personality, Lil Nas X is far from any stereotype. He has become a role model and icon for many.