Kid Cudi on Lil Nas X collab and tackling the ‘homophobic cloud over hip-hop’
“We have to stand with him", says Kid Cudi.
Words: Alastair James; pictures: Instagram/@kidcudi and @lilnasx
Kid Cudi has said he wants to work with Lil Nas X after the 22-year-old rapper tweeted that no black, male rappers wanted to work with him.
Writing about the ‘Industry Baby’ rapper for the Time 100 Most Influential People, Cudi was full of praise of Nas (real name Montero Lamar Hill) and affirmed his solidarity with the rapper.
Grammy Winner Kid Cudi, 37, reached out to Nas initially at the beginning of September when the ‘Montero (Call Me By Your Name)’ star responded to a comment about the lack of other black, male artists on his debut album, Montero.
“A true rock star”
Writing about Nas for Time, the ‘Day ‘n’ Nite’ rapper said: “Lil Nas X is a new twist on some of the themes I was riding on when I first started out: being true to yourself and not giving a f-ck what anyone says.”
He goes on to say that Lil Nas X is doing “what we need right now,” and that to have a black gay man in rap/hip-hop “is huge for us and for Black excellence,” and calling Nas “a true rock star.”
Referring to the pair’s Twitter exchange earlier this month, Cudi said seeing Nas think people didn’t want to work with, made him feel sad. “There’s a homophobic cloud over hip-hop, and he’s going to break that sh-t down.
“We have to stand with him. I’m going to do whatever I have to do to let him know—you have my support. When we do our song together, however trippy the video is, let’s get sexy with it.”
In the Twitter exchange, Cudi told Nas: “N***a ill work w u and frolic in rose gardens w u singin about my pain” [sic] Responding to that, Lil Nas X said: “u heard it here first everybody kid cudi x lil nas for montero deluxe [sic]”
u heard it here
first everybody
kid cudi x lil nas
for montero deluxe
🫂 https://t.co/tjabZ0tA9I— MONTERO 🦋 (@LilNasX) September 1, 2021
Lil Nas X’s debut album, Montero, arrives on Friday 17 September. If there’s a deluxe version already in the works, we hope it’s out soon after!
The Attitude October issue is out now.
Subscribe in print and get your first three issues for just £1 each, or subscribe digitally and get 50% off until 26/9/2021.
