By Tamlyn Canham
Lil Nas X says he prefers not to speak too much about homophobia in the hip-hop industry for his own safety.
The ‘Old Town Road’ hitmaker made the comments during an interview with Variety. The publication asked the singer how he felt about homophobic comments made by rappers such as DaBaby.
“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,” he told the publication.
The singer says he was harassed both on and offline following the release of his controversial ‘MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)’ video.
“There was literally someone who chased my car a few days after that video came out, yelling, ‘F**k you!’ or something. And that’s when I actually started getting security.”
Lil Nas X feels it was no coincidence that the incident happened after he dropped the video.
The video, which sees the singer giving Satan a lap dance, has been watched more than 320-million times on YouTube.
READ: Lil Nas X causes outrage with ‘Satan’ shoes
DaBaby controversy
American rapper DaBaby made headlines after shocking comments he made during the Rolling Loud music festival in July.
“If you didn’t show up today with HIV/AIDS, or any of them deadly sexually transmitted diseases that’ll make you die in two to three weeks, then put your cell phone light in the air… Fellas, if you ain’t suck a n**a dick in the parking lot, put your cell phone lights in the air. Keep it f**king real,” he said.
Scores of stars including Elton John, Dua Lipa, and Demi Lovato have spoken out against his comments.
(1/5) We've been shocked to read about the HIV misinformation and homophobic statements made at a recent DaBaby show. This fuels stigma and discrimination and is the opposite of what our world needs to fight the AIDS epidemic.
The facts are: pic.twitter.com/MqCv3vWiz2
— Elton John (@eltonofficial) July 28, 2021
Lil Nas chose not to speak about the DaBaby incident, but he is not afraid to address the double standards in the music industry.
He was accused of promoting promiscuity in the video for his new song, ‘Industry Baby’. One Twitter user said he was not promoting gay rights, but “sexual irresponsibility”.
“Y’all be silent as hell when n***as dedicate their entire music catalogue to rapping about sleeping with multiple women. but when I do anything remotely sexual I’m ‘being sexually irresponsible’ & ‘causing more men to die from aids’ y’all hate gay ppl and don’t hide it,” Lil Nas X responded.
y’all be silent as hell when niggas dedicate their entire music catalogue to rapping about sleeping with multiple women. but when i do anything remotely sexual i’m “being sexually irresponsible” & “causing more men to die from aids” y’all hate gay ppl and don’t hide it. https://t.co/ZiwbYcIH5l
— NASARATI (@LilNasX) July 25, 2021
Main image credit: Instagram/@lilnasx
