VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: Music Producer Irv ‘Gotti’ Lorenzo On Lil Nas X Coming Out, Gay Artists In Rap

Rapper Lil Nas X rose to fame this year with his hit single “Old Town Road,” a hip-hop tune that also incorporates themes often associated with country music.

On June 30, the rapper made waves on Twitter after coming out as gay on the last day of LGBT pride month by pointing out the lyrics to another song of his, “c7osure.”

Music producer Irv Gotti spoke to uInterview about the case surrounding Lil Nas X and how LGBT artists are viewed in the hip-hop community. Lorenzo is best known for working with artists like Ja Rule, Jennifer Lopez, DMX and Ashanti in the 2000s.

Lorenzo cited openly gay R&B singer Frank Ocean as evidence for his belief that today’s music world has become much more accepting of LGBT performers. Ocean publicly revealed himself as bisexual in 2012.

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“That had no effect on [Ocean’s] career,” said Lorenzo. “It’s all good. Whatever people are, whoever you are, just be who you are and I think the world will accept you.”

“I’d rather [Lil Nas X] do that than lie and pretend,” he added. “I see no hindrance that’s gonna happen wit him. Like, none.”

Lorenzo went on to say that there will always be artists who are “idiots” and draw “backlash” for their shocking announcements, lies and controversial comments, although he generally tends to believe the majority of musicians like Lil Nas X who open up publicly about their sexuality, especially in this day and age.

“We’re in 2019,” he said. “Now, if we [were] in 1995, he might have a problem. But 2019? He’s gonna have no problem. It’s common, it’s normal.”

Gotti also created the BET series Tales, which premiered its second season last week. The anthology show explores the stories that led to the creation of chart-topping rap and hip-hop songs in recent years.