What Is Lil Nas X's Net Worth?
Lil Nas X is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter who has a net worth of $9 million. Lil Nas X is probably best known for his single "Old Town Road," which famously mixed rap and country genres together for a totally unique sound. Although the single first went viral on TikTok, it eventually charted well in a number of countries and earned a diamond certification in 2019.
Lil Nas X is also known for his position of prominence within the LGBTQ community. After the release of "Old Town Road," he publicly came out as gay. This was a first for any artist who currently had a #1 record. His coming out was met with various reactions. Fans and other artists congratulated him, while some members of the hip-hop community criticized him. Very few artists within the hip-hop world have ever come out as gay.
Nas X received numerous awards as a result of "Old Town Road." He was the most-nominated male artist at the Grammys in 2020, and he won a Grammy for Best Music Video and Best Pop Duo Performance. In addition, Nas X won two MTV Video Music Awards and a Country Music Award. He is the only LGBTQ person to ever win a Country Music Award. Today, Lil Nas X is considered to be one of the most influential people on the internet.
Early Life
Montero Lamar Hill was born on April 9, 1999, in Lithia Springs, Georgia. Raised just outside of Atlanta, Lil Nas X watched his parents divorce at the age of six. At the age of nine, he moved in with his father, who lived in Austell, Georgia. He later stated that moving away from Atlanta helped him avoid "falling in with the wrong crowd." As a young teen, Montero became quite passionate about internet memes.
Nas X admits that he spent most of his teen years alone and on the internet. During this period, he struggled to come to terms with his sexuality. By the age of 17, he had accepted that he was gay. After graduating from high school in 2017, Montero attended the University of West Georgia for one year before dropping out. During this period, he focused on a career in music, and he supported himself by working at restaurants and theme parks.
Social Media
Although Lil Nas X was always passionate about a future career in music, he started gaining prominence primarily as an internet personality. In an interview, the rapper stated that he had tried to establish a large following on several different social media platforms before finally succeeding with Twitter. In his early days, around 2017, Lil Nas X was best known for creating Twitter fan accounts for Nicki Minaj. He actually got in trouble with Twitter for allegedly "Tweetdecking," which is the process of creating multiple accounts in order to help posts go viral. His main Nicki Minaj fan account was eventually suspended due to violating Twitter's policies.
Although he initially denied being connected with the Nicki Minaj fan accounts, he came clean in 2020 and admitted that he had hidden the truth because he thought people would assume that he was gay after seeing that he had that many accounts dedicated to Nicki Minaj. At the time these allegations had started, he had not come out. Nicki Minaj later berated Lil Nas X for hiding the fact that he was a fan while simultaneously congratulating him.
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Music Success
In 2019, Lil Nas X focused more heavily on a future career in music. He started writing and recording songs and adopted the name Lil Nas X, a tribute to the legendary New York rapper Nas. In 2018, he purchased the beat for "Old Town Road" from a Dutch producer named YoungKio for $30. YoungKio posted the song to an online store that provides producers with substantial royalties, so this producer earned a lot of money from Lil Nas X's success.
He first recorded "Old Town Road" at a minor studio in Atlanta during their "$20 Tuesdays" promotion. TikTok users then discovered the track and started using it non-stop due to the #Yeehaw Challenge. This viral challenge involved people dressing up as wranglers or cowgirls. Immediately, the simple, catchy song about riding horses and tractors became popular among young people.
The track charted well on both the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart and the Hot Country Songs Chart before it was controversially removed for "not being country enough." This was seen as a clear sign of racism by some people. A representative from "Billboard" claimed in response that the decision had nothing to do with race. The song was remixed several times, and Billy Ray Cyrus appeared on one notable remix.
After "Old Town Road" spent seven consecutive weeks at the top of the "Billboard" charts, Lil Nas X surprised Billy Ray Cyrus with a brand new Maserati. The video was posted on his social media accounts. In total, the song spent 19 weeks at the top-ranked position on the "Billboard" charts, which was a record-breaking feat.
In September 2021, Lil Nas X released his first studio album, "Montero," which features the singles "Montero (Call Me by Your Name), "Industry Baby" (featuring Jack Harlow), and the top-10 single "That's What I Want." The album was nominated for Album of the Year at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards. In early 2022, Lil Nas X teased two new songs from his upcoming studio album, "Late to da Party" (featuring YoungBoy Never Broke Again) and "Down Surf Hoes" (featuring Saucy Santana).
Sexuality
In early 2019, Lil Nas X publicly came out as gay. He made the announcement through social media on the last day of Pride Month. Fans and critics had been suspecting that he was indeed homosexual for quite a while, as many of his tracks contained hints about his sexuality. Several days later, he made it clear that he was gay in an interview.
While Lil Nas X was congratulated by most musicians, artists, fans, critics, and casual observers, there were a few who didn't take the news well. Various individuals attacked him on social media. The hip-hop community as a whole generally reacted with distaste, and this brought attention to the widespread homophobia that exists in hip-hop culture.
In January 2023, Lil Nas X took to Twitter to state that he is actually bisexual.
Real Estate
In March 2021, Lil Nas X paid $2.4 million for a home in Sherman Oaks, California.
