Lil Nas X became a superstar almost overnight when his hit single "Old Town Road" won – and then lost – a spot on the Billboard country chart. The song has remained No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for an impressive 12 weeks in a row. But despite his fame, many people didn't know much about the man behind the song.
Late on Sunday night, the last day of Pride Month, Lil Nas X tweeted about a song from his new album, "7" — and seemingly revealed something about himself that many people didn't know.
"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 tweeted, sharing a short animated clip with the new song, "c7osure."
The clip starts in black and white and then transforms into a rainbow of colors. It seems Lil Nas X was making an intentional nod to the rainbow Pride flag on the last day of June, the month designated for celebrating the LGBTQ community. The cover art for his new album "7" also has a rainbow on it.
"Deadass thought i made it obvious," Lil Nas X wrote in another tweet, sharing images of the cover art, in which he's riding his horse toward a rainbow-colored city in the distance.
To many fans, the two tweets were the singer's way of coming out as gay. Some people tweeted their support for the 20-year-old, whose real name is Montero Lamar Hill.
The lyrics Lil Nas X told fans to listen closely to are about being free and being yourself. "True say/ I want and I need To let go/ Use my time to be free," he sings in the first line of "c7osure."
"Ain't no more actin', man that forecast say I should just let me grow/ No more red light for me, baby, only green, I gotta go/ Pack my past up in the back, oh, let my future take a hold/ This is what I gotta do, can't be regretting when I'm old," the lyrics continue.
The singer replied to a few tweets, but did not specifically confirm his sexual orientation on Twitter. He retweeted a fan who noticed the promotional video for "7" also included a rainbow, in keeping with the Pride theme.
At such a young age, the artist has already broken down several barriers in hip-hop. He started out as an independent artist, posting his own music on platforms like SoundCloud. He then found fame with "Old Town Road," a genre-blending trap and country hybrid song that debuted on three Billboard charts.
Lil Nas X has also managed to stay humble while skyrocketing to fame. He recently visited an elementary school in Ohio after hearing the students were obsessed with "Old Town Road." He also called the mother of a young boy with autism, after hearing that her non-verbal son had begun singing the words to his song.
Lil Nas X would not be the first hip-hop artist to come out as gay. Singer Frank Ocean came out in a letter posted on his blog in 2012.
