Skip to content
Navigating a New Political Landscape: View real-time updates about the impact of and Northeastern's response to recent political changes.
Apply
Stories

The importance of being Lil Nas X

People in this story

(Photo by John Shearer/WireImage)
Lil Nas X attends The 2021 Met Gala Celebrating In America: A Lexicon Of Fashion at Metropolitan Museum of Art on September 13, 2021 in New York City.

This month, Lil Nas X launched his highly anticipated debut album, “Montero.” The album, which follows Nas X’s hit singles “Old Town Road” (featuring Billy Ray Cyrus) and “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)” was an instant success—it contains 11 tracks that charted on the Billboard Hot 100. Lil Nas X has collaborated with some of the biggest musicians of the day, including Megan Thee Stallion, Elton John, Jack Harlow, Doja Cat, and Miley Cyrus. His videos have been described by journalists and critics as “radically queer,” and they’ve garnered a predictable backlash as such (including, perhaps surprisingly, from the governor of South Dakota).

But the pop-rap artist is breaking other ground, too: As a Black, gay man making wildly popular music, he’s transforming “the landscape of queer possibilities,” says K.J. Rawson, associate professor of English and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies at Northeastern.

Rawson, who studies the rhetorical work of queer and transgender archival collections, situates Lil Nas X in the lineage of artists such as Sylvester, David Bowie, Janelle Monaé, and others, but his unapologetic approach to showcasing Black, queer stories in his music and music videos puts him in a league of his own.

Continue reading at News@Northeastern.

More Stories

A drawing depicts steam engines in America.

What is Jevons Paradox? And why it may — or may not — predict AI’s future

02.07.2025
The Center for International Affairs and World Cultures hosts a panel with a pair of scholars on the future of the Middle East peace process. Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University

After ceasefire deal, how can mediators create a lasting peace in Gaza? Experts unravel the task

02.05.2025
Gas pump fills a tank

Will the Federal Reserve pause rate cuts after January’s inflation uptick?

02.12.25
All Stories