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Lil Nas X answers kids' questions about what it means to come out of the closet

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Our favorite Lil Nas X moments for his birthday
Mike Coppola/FilmMagic/Getty Images, FILE
ByMegan Stone
April 15, 2021, 4:02 PM

Lil Nas X explained what it means to come out as gay in a candid conversation with two of his youngest fans.

Appearing in the Wednesday episode of "Arts & Raps" from All Def Music, the "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)" singer answered a bevy of questions from show stars Dilan and Zaria as the three painted portraits.

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One of the most meaningful moments occurred when Lil Nas X was asked to explain what coming out of the closet means.

"It means you're like, 'Hey everybody, I'm this thing, and you guys didn't even know that, but now you know,'" the Grammy winner, who came out in June 2019, said.

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The terminology, however, was still lost on the young hosts, with Dilan revealing his own "closet story" -- where he and his cousin locked his brother in the closet and said with a straight face, "And we close the door and blink the lights on and off, and then say '666' or 'Bloody Mary.' And then [my brother] swore he saw something."

Without missing a beat, Lil Nas X deadpanned, "That's exactly what happened to me. That's exactly what I meant when I said I was coming out of the closet," which caused the entire room to erupt in laughter.

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The "Old Town Road" rapper was also asked by Zaria what it means to be "unapologetically you," to which he replied, "It means just doing yourself at all costs, no matter who's watching."

"It gets really hard, because everybody in the world, we always think about what everybody else is thinking about us," Lil Nas X continued. "Sometimes, we forget to think about what we think about ourselves, you know?"

He also added that he's "able to care and push it off of my shoulder."

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