“deadass thought i made it obvious” — How an admission of gay changed the game

Social strings pull in many directions. Clip the ends to receive your blessings.

Lil Nas X, the mastermind behind “Old Town Road,” which currently sits at №1 on Billboard Hot 100 in its 13th week, shared a message with Twitter fans recently which read:

“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. 🌈🤩✨”

Many immediately understood his message, given the rainbow imagery displayed in addition to choice lyrics from Lil Nas X’s song “C7osure (You Like),” which read, “True say, I want and I need to let go, use my time to be free.” He later followed this by tweeting two photos, one zoomed in on rainbow imagery with a caption saying, “deadass thought i made it obvious.” With this follow-up tweet, it became clear Lil Nas X identifies as gay.

The Atlanta native disclosed his sexuality on the final day of June, today known as LGBT Pride Month. He would later say during an interview with BBC America that he considered keeping this secret but ultimately decided to refrain from hiding part of his identity. In the aftermath, Lil Nas X received both praise and disapproval via social media. With almost 2 million followers on Twitter and…