Lil Nas X is Free as a Bird and Single—By Choice

After finding the one and deciding it wasn’t for him, Lil Nas X, who came out in 2019, appears to be on his own again, and purely by choice. In a shift that appears to center around focusing on work, Lil Nas X decided to stop focusing on his relationship status to move his attention to his passion for his craft. The artist mentioned that he may be “floating around right now … I just want to work on music and every now and then, you know, maybe I’ll kiss a guy every blue moon, you know?” according to Page Six.

Nas hopes this doesn’t affect the way his single “That’s What I Want” is viewed, despite declaring in the lyrics that “these days, I’m way too lonely” and needs “someone to love (him)” according to them.  This is not the first time a duality like this has been explored and expressed by an artist, especially one who is grappling with their newfound, outwardly-expressed sexual identity. Even outside the world of artistry and music, this is a duality that quite possibly anyone could experience.

Despite Nas’s special someone being as of yet unnamed, public stunts from backup dancer Yay Ariza may clue people into thinking he was Nas’s unnamed plus-one. From their raunchy neck-licking on SNL back in May, to their big ol’ smooch at the BET awards, people began to theorize that this was the secret someone that Nas had found himself with.

Ariza even played the other football player in the “That’s what I want,” and if you’ve seen the music video, you can see how that would certainly make Ariza seem like The One. However, this is all a big ball of speculation, and there couldn’t be a bigger example of remembering the difference between business and pleasure, combined with the fact that Nas has chosen not to announce any names. That is a matter of privacy for Nas and he is not obligated to share.

Nas’s former secret relationship capped off a long series of boyfriends who seemed to be disengaged. Nas says he “had some good boyfriends and some bad ones. A lot of them were emotionally unavailable or had a lot of insecurity and whatnot. But I’ve found someone special now,” according to Out.

We may never know who The One was, and that’s OK. At the end of the day, that is Lil Nas X’s private matter. If he feels comfortable discussing that, there is no shortage of people willing to listen. Nas is focused and flourishing by the sound of it, and many anticipate the immaculate work he has in store for the future.