Lil Nas X graces the cover of Entertainment Weekly’s Pride issue

“I'm thankful. But it also feels good to prove people wrong,” Lil Nas X says in the June issue of Entertainment Weekly, where he is the cover star for their Pride issue. It’s a revealing look into the “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” rapper, who goes into detail about dealing with trolls, his love of Nicki Minaj, and staying true to his musical vision, even if that means alienating his straight fans.

“At first I was really afraid of alienating any of my straight fans," LNX says in the interview. "But then it was kind of like, if they feel offended, they were never really here for me. They were here for whatever version of myself they made up in their head.”

The interview also explores his past as a bit of an online troll (which he regrets) and how he deals with trolling these days now that he’s a target for the right.

“When I first got famous, I would block everybody,” he shared when speaking about the ongoing trolls who seek to tear him down because he’s one of the few gay Black men in the music industry. “But now it’s like, okay, cool. For me, I would rather somebody hate the s*** out of me when they’re talking about me rather than not say anything at all, because that’s giving more power to my name.”

He’s using that new mentality to clap back at the online abuse, rather than ignore it or stay silent.

“I’m very much a chaotic, good person,” he says. “I almost never want to start shooting at somebody who didn’t bring it to my doorstep, you know? But I kind of live for when somebody tries to get me and I’m ready to throw it back at them tenfold. Do I feel bad about it sometimes? Every now and then, but I feel less bad knowing that I didn’t start it. I try to never throw stones, but if somebody throws one at me, I’m throwing an entire house.”

He also spoke up about being a huge Nicki Minaj stan (her fanbase call themselves “Barbz”), something he previously kept hidden lest his queerness became public. But fully owning his Barb-ness, he says that when it comes to her songs, “my favourite two right now, because it's always changing: "Put You in a Room" and "Miami.”

EW has four cover stars to celebrate Pride month, including MJ Rodriguez, Lena Waithe and Bowen Yang, and all were shot by photographer Texas Isaiah Horatio-Valenzuela, who became the first trans photographer to photograph a cover of any Vogue edition in 2020. And speaking of Bowen Yang, LNX will be joining him on the set of Saturday Night Live on May 22^nd, when he is the musical guest.

LNX definitely has the right attitude when it comes to being true to his own self. "Looking back on history, the biggest icons, the biggest artists, are the ones who aren't trying to always make everybody happy and who were doing themselves. I hope to do that at all times,” he says.

“Once you show the world more of yourself, they can relate more."

BEFORE YOU GO: Britney calls out ‘hypocritical’ documentaries

[video_embed id='2194652']BEFORE YOU GO: Britney calls out ‘hypocritical’ documentaries[/video_embed]