Earlier this week, the "Old Town Road" artist took to Twitter to explain that he meant no disrespect towards Nas when he chose his stage name before saying that he might change his name in the future. He was hit with suggestions while others told him that he should name his next album, Illmatic 2.
Michael Rapaport chimed in with his own suggestions for a new name, albeit, sarcastically. "How about Kareem Abdul Jabbar X? Or maybe Robert DeNiro X? Those are original right?" He replied on Twitter.
Following the success of "Old Town Road," the rapper explained that he used the alias on the Internet before his music began to get any sort of success.
"It's been my internet alias for a minute," he said. "The X wasn't included at first. It was just Lil Nas. It was Lil Nas because when I first started rapping I wasn't as serious so it was like, 'Okay, every rapper's name is starting with Lil lately.' So I kind of got stuck with it. I added the X later on after I was more serious. It would stand for the amount of years, I felt, until I'm at the status where I'm considered legendary."
About The Author
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.
