Lil Nas X

Lil Nas X, Olivia Rodrigo, Lorde, Machine Gun Kelly, And More Are Performing At The 2021 VMAs

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MTV has announced the first run of performers coming to the 2021 VMAs. On your screen this year will be Lil Nas X, Olivia Rodrigo, Lorde, Machine Gun Kelly, and Camila Cabello, with more likely to be announced in the weeks ahead. This will be Rodrigo’s debut VMAs performance after snagging five nominations this year. Meanwhile, Lil Nas X last performed at the VMAs in 2019, performing “Panini.”

Lorde, meanwhile, will do a world-premiere performance from her upcoming album Solar Power, and Machine Gun Kelly will give his new single “Papercuts” its live debut. Cabello will reportedly perform her single “Don’t Go Yet.”

The news comes just days after the network released this year’s nominees for the 2021 VMAs, with Justin Bieber and Megan Thee Stallion leading the pack. Thanks to his successful Justice release, Bieber holds seven nominations, including nods for Video Of The Year, Artist Of The Year, and Best Pop. Megan follows behind him with six nominations for categories like Video Of The Year and Song Of The Year. This year’s MTV VMAs is set to return to Barclays Center in Brooklyn for the first time since 2013. It kicks off September 12 and organizers expect to invite musicians and fans to join the event in-person.

Check out the full nominees list here.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Lil Nas X Offers His Advice To Aspiring Musicians Ahead Of His Debut Album

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It’s only been three years since Lil Nas X was catapulted into the limelight with his smash hit single “Old Town Road.” In that short time period, the musician has not only found major chart success, but he’s also pissed off religious folks, ripped his pants on live TV, and been sued by Nike for his “Satan Shoes.” Now reflecting on his career ahead of his debut album, Lil Nas X has some advice for aspiring creatives.

Lil Nas X has yet to unveil the official release date for his upcoming album, but he has confirmed it will be titled Montero, his birth name. The musician took to Twitter Wednesday to give some guidance for those looking to get a start in music. Though his fans had been endlessly pushing for his debut LP’s release, Lil Nas X said he is ultimately happy he decided to work at his own pace: “after being in the music industry for 3 years i’ll finally be dropping my first album, and i just want to say to all my creators listening ‘go at your own pace!’ never feel like you are behind. your time is for you and no one will get in the way of that.”

One of Lil Nas X’s fans replied to his tweet, apologizing for putting pressure on him. But Lil Nas X wasn’t bothered. As a former Nicki Minaj stan himself, the musician understands his fans’ impatience. He wrote, “all good, i understand u guys are eager for new music. i just really needed time to create the music i felt was true to me and that i genuinely loved.”

Lil Nas X Says He Had To Hire Security After ‘Montero’ Came Out

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In a new cover interview with Variety, Lil Nas X admitted that he began feeling unsafe after the single and video for “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” was released last March. The music video, for context, features the openly gay rapper giving Satan a lap dance, which had a lot of conservative pundits in an uproar.

Circling the subject of homophobia in the rap community, Nas told Variety, “The honest truth is, I don’t want to speak on a lot of the homophobia within rap because I feel like this is a very dangerous playing field. It’s more for my own safety rather than anything else.” When pressed for detail, Nas admitted that he decided to hire security after someone chased his car. “There was literally someone who chased my car a few days after that video came out, yelling, ‘F*ck you!’ or something. And that’s when I actually started getting security […] I feel like it couldn’t be a coincidence.”

That said, Nas certainly has a fan in Sir Elton John, who told Variety that the rapper is “a hero of mine,” adding, “Lil Nas X is a bold and brave provocateur who’s making amazing and inspiring music. He’s pushing the boundaries of urban music by wholeheartedly embracing his sexuality and visually projecting that celebration out into the world.”

John continued: “Historically, there has been a lot of homophobia in the hip-hop world. DaBaby’s recent recent damaging comments about the LGBTQ community and people living with HIV/AIDS clearly demonstrate that there is still so much education and work to be done.”

Read Lil Nas X’s full interview with Variety here.

Lil Nas X Nearly Acted On HBO’s ‘Euphoria’ But Turned Down The Role

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With his single “Montero” inspired by the film Call Me By Your Name, it’s no secret that Lil Nas X is a movie buff. After a successful rise to stardom, the rapper hopes to one day pivot to acting — but just not quite yet. The rapper revealed he was actually asked to join the cast of HBO’s Euphoria, but ended up turning down the role to focus on his music.

Lil Nas X recent sat down with Variety for a cover interview to speak about his rise to fame. Along with discussing his upcoming album, which he says will arrive before the end of summer, Lil Nas X spoke about his acting dreams. The rapper said he eventually wants to make it to the big screen, but he’s just waiting for the right role. That’s why he turned down the chance to appear in Euphoria. “I was actually going to do ‘Euphoria,’ but I didn’t want to take time away from finishing my album,” he said. “I definitely want to get into acting, but I feel I have to give it my all, and I want to focus on music for right now. I want my first movie to be amazing.”

Following up on the statement on Twitter, Lil Nas X made it clear that his decision to decline the opportunity had nothing to do with the show itself. “btw this was not me saying im too good for euphoria, that’s literally one of my favorite shows right now,” he said.

While Lil Nas X may have turned down the Euphoria role, the hit TV show tapped a different musician to join their cast. Dominic Fike recently revealed that he has joined the series, and he said he plays a character that’s “exactly like me.”

Read Lil Nas X’s full interview with Variety here.

Lil Nas X Discusses The Stigmas Bottoms Face After Coming Out As One On ‘Holiday’

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Lil Nas X got real about a sexual preference of his on “Holiday” when he rapped, “Ayy, can I pop sh*t? / I might bottom on the low, but I top sh*t.” Now, the rapper, one of music’s most visible members of the LGBTQ community, has spoken out about being a bottom in a new Variety interview, in which he discusses some stigmas bottoms face.

He said, “I feel like even within the gay community, people see bottoming as a joke or something, and somebody who bottoms is beneath a top or something. The idea of that, I feel like, is a form of misogyny between men, you know? It doesn’t make any sense, and people attribute certain traits to whichever sexual position you decide to take. A lot of people say, ‘It’s just a joke.’ But all jokes have truths to them.”

Elsewhere, he speaks about how fame has impacted his love life, saying, “Before fame, I didn’t really have a sexual life besides one person or two. It’s definitely made things a lot more interesting, to say the least. I’ve had some good boyfriends, some bad ones. A lot of them emotionally unavailable and whatnot. A lot of insecurity between them. But yeah, I found somebody special now.”

Check out the full feature here.

After DaBaby’s Homophobic Rant, Lil Nas X Surpassed His Monthly Listeners On Spotify

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Lil Nas X has been on a roll this year. After ushering in a new era of music, the rapper dropped the internet-breaking song “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” along with the introspective number “Sun Goes Down” and the viral Jack Harlow collaboration “Industry Baby.” Thanks to the success of his recent singles, it’s no wonder that Lil Nas X has just become Spotify’s most-listened-to male rapper, surpassing DaBaby’s monthly listeners shortly after the rapper’s homophobic on-stage rant.

Lil Nas X now boasts well over 52 million monthly listeners on the popular streaming platform, according to Spotify’s data. That’s about one million more than DaBaby, who currently sits at 51 million monthly listeners. Upon hearing the news, Lil Nas X graciously thanked his followers for their continued support, saying it’s a career record for him. “wow this is insane,” he rapper on Twitter. “this is the most i’ve ever had in my career. thank u to everybody listening.”

The rapper’s victory over DaBaby in streaming numbers arrives shortly after DaBaby was captured on the Rolling Loud stage making some very uninformed remarks about HIV/Aids and the LGBTQ community. Several festivals booted DaBaby from their lineups as a result of his homophobic rant, and many celebrities like Dua Lipa and Miley Cyrus condemned the rapper out for his uneducated comments.

Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Lil Nas X Explains How His BET Awards Performance Was ‘Like Jumping In A Lake Of Sharks And Piranhas’

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Lil Nas X’s performance at the BET Awards was one of the year’s most notable music moments, mainly because of his on-stage kiss with one of his male dancers. In a new interview with Out, he spoke about the moment, admitting that he was hesitant about doing it at first.

He said:

“Going to this place with all these overly masculine rappers and you’re finna be in there throwing a little ass every now and then, touching on dudes and hugging them and kissing them… at some points I was like, ‘Should I even do this? I don’t feel like they’re going to love me like that.’ […]

Mentally, it’s really draining and straining sometimes; The pressure of living your entire life knowing the identity of what a rapper is supposed to be, what rappers [are supposed to] do, and going out there in front of all these people, it’s terrifying. [The BET performance] was like jumping in a lake full of sharks and piranhas — and I’ve had to do that so many times within these last three years. Even coming out, that was terrifying. When I put on the costume of Nicki [Minaj, for Halloween]: terrifying.”

He also spoke about his experience with homosexuality as a kid, saying, “Growing up in the Atlanta area, I [saw] a lot of microaggressions towards homosexuality. Little things like going into an IHOP and hearing one of your family members say, ‘Look at those f****ts’ to two people eating, or even just a small [statement like], ‘Boys don’t cry.’ Little sh*t like living in the hood, not being super into sports, and then having to go outside and pretend that I was.”

Read the full feature here.

Lil Nas X Had A Sarcastic Thank You After The ‘Montero’ Video Reached A New And Dubious Milestone On YouTube

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A few months ago, Lil Nas X released “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” and its accompanying music video, both of which sent the industry into chaos. From the Satan Shoes that were released with it, the images of hell in the video, and the singer dancing with the devil, the “Old Town Road” act found himself in headlines for a healthy amount of time. But outraged press is still press, and the controversy helped the video reach a new and dubious milestone.

The video reached one million dislikes this past weekend, becoming the first video on his artist page to do so. The news was shared by a Lil Nas fan account and after the singer himself caught wind of it, he shared a brief message. “Thank u to everyone who made this possible,” he wrote. “I am nothing without you guys lack of support.”

Back in June, Lil Nas revealed that he anticipated that the song and its video would receive considerable backlash. “Even when I was planning the video, I was like, ‘Oh, this is definitely going to hit Fox News,’” he said during a guest appearance on the Desus & Mero Showtime series. “I definitely didn’t expect the outrage as much as it was at all, especially, like, governors tweeting me. Like, you’re a governor. You don’t have anything better to do?”