Lil Nas X said his rise to stardom and the chaos that followed led him to reconnect with spirituality and reevaluate his priorities.
The 26-year-old Hip-Hop artist told Paper magazine that fame didn’t pull him away from deeper meaning—it brought him closer.
“It usually works the opposite way around for other people, but it made me feel closer to everything around me and the synchronicities of life,” he said.
Known for his 2019 breakout hit “Old Town Road,” Lil Nas X admitted he once dismissed spiritual ideas as nonsense.
“There were all these things that I thought were ‘magical hoo ha’ for my entire life as a very sceptical young man growing up, but then I was like, Okay, this makes sense. I get this,” he said.
As his career evolved, so did his mindset. The “Industry Baby” rapper said he’s shifted his focus inward after years of trying to fix everything around him.
“In addition to that, after finding that spiritual side, I’ve kind of made a 180 in terms of thinking I need to heal the world all the time and towards coming back to myself,” he said.
That self-awareness has helped him recognize when he needs to step back.
“You have to have that balance, like, Okay, I need to focus on me right now,” he said. “I need to do my s**t. I’m obviously unwell, even though I don’t want to admit it. And the only way I can go back out there is if I can work with myself first. Now I’m tiptoeing back to the world again.”