While most of us are still getting familiar with Lil Nas X, the 20-year-old rapper says he may change his name soon out of respect for Nas.
Lil Nas X (real name Montero Lamar Hill) currently has the No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with his country-trap song “Old Told Road.”
On Tuesday (April 23), the Atlanta native took to Twitter to reveal the possible name switch. “Nas is a legend and I never meant any disrespect by my stage name,” he explained. “I actually might change it in the future,” he went on to say without giving further backstory to his moniker.
The rising rapper has quickly made a name for himself in the music industry. After remixing his debut single with some help from country music legend Billy Ray Cyrus, the single became the shortest No. 1 record on the Hot 100 since 1965, clocking in at just 1 minute and 49 seconds. Earlier this month, “Old Town Road” also broke Drake’s first-week steaming record garnering 143 million U.S. streams in one week. Previously, Drizzy held the record when “In My Feelings” tracked 116.2 million streams in one week last June.
Not everyone is a fan, though. Harlem rapper Dave East recently drew both criticism and praise from fans when he stated that he felt the song was “super wack.”
“I ain’t no hater man, but that s—t is wack with a cape on it,” East said before seemingly changing his tune in a later post on Instagram. Lil Nas X addressed the dig during an interview on the “Zach Sang Show.”
“I have the No. 1 song in the country,” he said. “I do not give a f—k about what Dave East is saying.” According to Billboard, Lil Nas X and Cyrus will perform their No. 1 single for the first time together live at the country music festival Stagecoach this weekend. On Wednesday (April 24), the rapper also teased the upcoming visuals for the song, tweeting, “ITS A MOVIE!!”