Why LilNasX's latest achievement on the billboardcharts matters for the LGBTQ community
Obviously, Lil Nas X is not the first openly queer star to earn a No. 1 single on the Hot 100 -- he has joined a long lineage of LGBTQ artists with major staying power. But to see the new star earn the longest-running No. 1 hit in the Hot 100's history means more to the modern gay community than meets the eye.
For starters, Lil Nas X is, like many LGBTQ artists of the past and present, resistant to being placed in a box -- refusing to modify his image, or music, for the sake of an easy label. Part of the reason why “Old Town Road” has become such a monster hit is due to its blending of musical styles, which puts the song into a hard-to-qualify sonic territory and gives it a certain fluidity.
While the idea of genre-bending is present among several mainstream artists, the practice resonates particularly with young queer audiences who embrace that same fluidity over rigid labels. According to a recent study from the, more queer youth than ever don’t identify with “traditional” labels, like gay, lesbian, and bisexual, but rather with more mercurial identifiers.
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