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Young Thug Applauds Lil Nas X For Coming Out During Pride, Worries About Backlash

<> at Faena Beach on December 6, 2018 in Miami Beach, Florida.

Over the weekend, Adam22 of No Jumper published a new interview with Young Thug, filmed backstage at London’s Wireless Festival over the weekend of July 4. One of the topics brought up in the interview was the sexuality of Lil Nas X, who had came out, albeit obliquely, a few days prior at the end of June, which was Pride Month. Thug’s take on Lil Nas coming out was, above anything, very candid, as he mostly expressed trepidation for how the world might receive such news, while also commending Lil Nas for announcing that he’s gay at the conclusion of Pride. Via Stereogum:

I feel like he probably shouldn’t have told the world. He shouldn’t have told the world. These days, motherfuckers, it’s just all judgment. Motherfuckers is just judging. It ain’t even about the music no more. Once you found out he was gay, as soon as the song come on now, everybody like, “This gay-ass nigga.” Niggas don’t even care to listen to the song no more… It’s just like, to certain people, you know what I’m saying?…

I just feel like he young, and backlash can come behind anything. [His coming out] wasn’t a bad idea, and it was most definitely the best time to do it, during Pride. That was the best time to do it. That was a G’s move. But he young, and I know he going to be dealing with it in his mind. I dealt with this shit before. I know what he dealing with. So I was like, “Fuck, he should have never said that, never should have told them.

It’s hard to tell who exactly Thug is talking about here when he refers to judge-y “motherfuckers,” but, thankfully, his accidental prediction at least appears to be untrue. If Lil Nas has experienced any backlash from coming out it will have only been in private. “Old Town Road” will soon embark on its nearly record breaking 15th week at No. 1, and his second single “Panini” is inside the top 20 and holding strong as a streaming behemoth in its own right.

Thug, an androgynous dresser who dealt with his own period of having his sexuality questioned, is an obvious precedent to Lil Nas, if not being an outright mentor, and Thug made it clear in the interview that he supports his new collaborator in the way that matters most to him:

I really fuck with Lil Nas X. He already showed me the most respect by saying that I inspired him. So I ain’t even caring to get in his way. I want him to get, like, a trillion dollars. I want him to get more money than me.

You can watch the interview below, with the subject of Lil Nas X arriving around the 15 minute mark.