Lil Nas X talks coming out as a gay man in TIME magazine cover

American singer Lil Nas X had a very casual approach to revealing his homosexuality amid massive viral success.

Almost two months after announcing his sexual orientation on Twitter, the Old Town Road hitmaker, 20, is opening up about the coming out tweet as he continues to blaze his own path in his freshman year in the music business.

“I never would have done that if I wasn’t in a way pushed by the universe,” he tells Time magazine for his recent cover story. “In June, I’m seeing Pride flags everywhere and seeing couples holding hands — little stuff like that.”

Lil Nas X first came out to his father and sister in early June before letting his fans and followers know weeks later. The rapper shared the news on World Pride Day by posting a video of his song C7osure and urging his followers to listen again to its lyrics.

“Some of y’all already know, some of y’all don’t care, some of y’all not [going to f— with me] no more. But before this month ends I want y’all to listen closely to c7osure,” he tweets, adding a sea of emoji including a rainbow.

some of y’all already know, some of y’all don’t care, some of y’all not gone fwm no more. but before this month ends i want y’all to listen closely to c7osure. ??? pic.twitter.com/O9krBLllqQ

— nope (@LilNasX) June 30, 2019

He later shared a photo of his EP’s album artwork, zooming in on a rainbow projected on a building. “Deadass thought I made it obvious,”.

Also, the singer explicitly confirmed his homosexuality during his appearance on BBC Breakfast show in early July.

Despite his hints, Lil Nas had trepidation about the timing behind-the-tweets.

“I know the people who listen to [‘Old Town Road’] the most, and they’re not accepting of homosexuality,“ says he to  Time, adding that he had been taught from a young age that homosexuality “is never going to be O.K.”

C7osure finds Lil Nas X singing about a desire to live a more authentic life. “Ain’t no more actin’, man that forecast say I should just let me grow/ No more red light for me baby, only green, I gotta go/ Pack my past up in the back, oh, let my future take ahold/ This is what I gotta do, can’t be regrettin’ when I’m old.”

The star continues to have a culture-changing year: Old Town Road was named the longest-running No. 1 song in history and has maintained the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 19 consecutive weeks.