Lil Nas X

“When I first started to do music, I was kind of doing what I thought people would want me to do.”

“I was just trying to fit into a certain spectrum. Just like, basic rap.”

“Live your life to its fullest potential and don't really care too much about what other people think of you.”

“Just because you like one song from an artist, that doesn't make you a fan.”

“In my music, I'm never going to force anything to try to recreate a moment or something.”

“Growing up, I always liked so many different sounds from so many different genres - the different aspects they could bring.”

“And whenever I do step away from the Internet or the music too long, it's like I have to slowly get back into myself to get back into the groove.”

“'Old Town Road' came after a period of feeling like I was out of options. I was living with my sister. She was pretty much fed up with me being there.”

“I believe whenever you're trying something new, it's always going to get some kind of bad reception.”

“I'm from Atlanta, but I don't really consider myself an 'Atlanta rapper.'”

“But with country trap, I in no way want to take credit for that. I believe Young Thug would be one of the biggest pioneers in that.”

“I wanted to stay independent because I figured there was no way I was going to be able to have control to create the type of music I want. I was basically ignoring a lot of labels.”

“My actual writing process? I have to just love the beat before I even write on it. I can't force myself to write to a beat that I'm not immediately loving.”

“I just liked making funny videos, content that people would enjoy. The likes and retweets - that was, like, a plus.”

“In 2017, I enjoyed my time on the Internet more than doing things in real life.”

“I started using the Internet heavily right around the time when memes started to become their own form of entertainment. I started to get into every side of the Internet around 13-ish.”

“I want to build to that mogul, legendary level.”

“I have my name, and I have a growing fan base, so I'm gonna do whatever I want.”

“I'm a fan of all genres of music. I have a few country songs I like. I'm not gonna say I'm a huge country fan, but, you know, I listen around.”

“I was pretty familiar with TikTok: I always thought its videos would be ironically hilarious. When I became a trending topic on there, it was a crazy moment for me. A lot of people will try to downplay it, but I saw it as something bigger.”