![](\"https:\/\/assets.rebelmouse.io\/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy81OTc2NDI2My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTc5MjA5MjIzN30.0g3iDTzs31qenrBqvKpsAbCSswyGV1wJe6tPdK-oUH4\/img.jpg?width=2800&height=3500&coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI\u2019m a manifester!\u201d Lil Nas X<\/u><\/a> hums from his makeup chair where he\u2019s getting dolled up before his PAPER<\/em> shoot in New York. Just hours ago, the internet savant-turned globally famous rapper was performing his new single, \u201cHOTBOX\u201d for a jam-packed crowd at The Box in Manhattan. But after just a few hours of beauty sleep, he\u2019s ready to dig in.\n<\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s clear he has a lot to get off his chest after a relatively quiet period in his life and career.\n<\/p>\n \n\tEmerging from his semi-cocoon, Lil Nas X feels ready to enter the world with the same force and gumption that helped him move rapidly from a bedroom internet-poster to a chart-topping pop star, first with \u201cOld Town Road,\u201d<\/a> and then later with culture-shaping hits like \u201cMONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)\u201d<\/a> and \u201cIndustry Baby.\u201d<\/a> This go-around, though, he\u2019s taking a markedly different approach. \u201cLast time I was bringing the world to me,\u201d he reflects. \u201cThis time I’m bringing myself to the world.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Whereas his last era centered around controversy and bombast, his new era, DREAMBOY<\/em> \u2014 which encapsulates his forthcoming album, but much more as well \u2014 has a more intimate tenor. \u201cIt’s a collection of everything and anything I\u2019ve ever loved or hated,\u201d he beams. \u201cIt’s just me going out there and doing me in whichever form I feel.\u201d<\/p>\n That sounds like a natural move for any artist looking to express their inner world, but for Lil Nas X, that recentering has an even deeper resonance. At the beginning of his career, the thrill of his artistry was largely contingent on the social hullabaloo surrounding him. That\u2019s especially true of the pitch-perfect rollout of \u201cMONTERO (Call Me By Your Name).\u201d Its video, (which features Lil Nas X sliding from heaven on an eternal stripper pole into the fiery pits of hell) and its promotional campaign (where he sold 666 pairs of shoes with drops of human blood inside them) was positioned as easy bait for right-wing culture warriors. Still, the extent to which they<\/u><\/a> took<\/u><\/a> it<\/u><\/a> was surprising. \u201cI was like, What’s even going on?<\/em> I actually had a moment where I felt like I was on The Truman Show<\/em>,\u201d he laughs. \u201cI was like, There\u2019s no way this is working this well.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n At that time, it did seem like Lil Nas X was a conductor controlling pop culture\u2019s orchestra. As a long-time resident of \u201cstan\u201d communities on Twitter, he was well-prepared, knowing exactly which notes to hit. That said, a seamless symphony is hard to maintain, though he has faith in his powers to manifest his dreams. \u201cI never want somebody to think they can’t create magic, 24\/7,\u201d he says. \u201c[But I did] get to this place where I was super doubtful at the same time as I was starting to do what was expected of me. It was clashing.\u201d<\/p>\n He\u2019s referring to 2024\u2019s \u201cJ Christ,\u201d his comeback single that was very much a continuation of his debut album\u2019s style. The video features him as the aforementioned child of God and was similar to \u201cMONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)\u201d in the way it merged flamboyantly braggadocious bars with biblical themes. It ends with a Noah\u2019s Ark-style flood and the ominous words \u201cDay Zero,\u201d which Lil Nas X says was, in its own way, \u201ca prophecy.\u201d \u201cIt destroyed the old way of everything,\u201d he shares. \u201cAfter that, nothing was the same ever again. It made way for now.\u201d<\/p>\n The video and song, which didn\u2019t have the same grand reception as his previous hits, was contending with a lot. There were sky high expectations put upon him as one of the decade\u2019s biggest new stars, but also there was a rapidly changing culture to grapple with. \u201cThe world was shifting so much at the time,\u201d he says. \u201cEven right now, [there\u2019s] everything with the young males being taught these super conservative ways,\u201d he sighs. <\/p>\n Indeed, when \u201cMONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)\u201d came out, the pearl-clutching conservative response to his antics was largely seen as a comical overreaction. But as the moral panic surrounding the trans community, drag queens and \u201cgrooming\u201d has ratcheted up, Lil Nas X\u2019s biblical satire began to potentially hit too close to home. Now, with Trump in office again, and the assault on the trans community reaching a government-wide fever pitch, there\u2019s little to laugh at. Reflecting on his controversy-heavy approach circa the MONTERO-<\/em>era, he reflects: \u201c[If I did that today,] they\u2019d actually try to kill me, like I\u2019m not kidding.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/img-19.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
<\/h3>\n
\n