Note: The report below contains homophobic slurs and references suicide.
Boosie Badazz shared a hateful message on Saturday (Oct. 23) directed at Lil Nas X on Twitter after the Atlanta musician jokingly suggested the pair had collaborated on a song. During an Instagram live, the “Old Town Road” singer informed fans he had a track with Boosie on the way, a troll announcement in response to the Baton Rouge rapper’s continued homophobic rhetoric.
A recording of the live broadcast was captured and shared on social media by West Coast radio station Power 106 LA.
“I been working on this song with Lil Boosie, bro. I have this song with Lil Boosie, gonna come out,” revealed the Grammy award-winning artist.
Lil Nas X said he got a song with Boosie otw ???pic.twitter.com/cyR9hbAwDd
— Power 106 (@Power106LA) October 23, 2021
In response to the suggestion he had teamed up with Lil Nas X, the “Wipe Me Down” rapper used a slur against the 22-year-old artist and suggested he die by suicide.
“Stop trolling me f*gg*t lol !!” wrote BadAzz on Twitter, continuing, “U a whole b*tch playing with a gangsta. SMH. U can keep sucking d*ck n gettin f*cked n your *ss in peace n [you hate yourself.] I would too if I was you LOL NasX. If you #commitsuicide you would do this world a huge favor [raised hands emoji].” The violent tweet concluded. “Nobody wants u here.”
The message was deleted by Twitter, not the Baton Rouge rapper, for violating the social media platform’s policy. Still, the harmful post was captured via screenshot and shared by entertainment tabloid TMZ.
Boosie Badazz has a history of using his platform to spread anti-gay messages, particularly against LGBTQ men. The rapper, who conversely has songs and lyrics encouraging women to engage in sexual behavior with one another for his enjoyment recently kicked his homophobia into overdrive after Charlotte rapper DaBaby was criticized for the language used during his Rolling Loud performance this past summer.
The “Set It Off” rapper defended DaBaby and went on several rants and press appearances doubling down on his stance.
“It’s sad how y’all tryna force this gay stuff on the world,” the 38-year-old rapper said in one rant. “It’s sad how y’all tryna ban artists. Y’all sad, bro, it’s sad, bro. In 10 years, it ain’t gonna be normal for a kid to be straight. It’s sad, bro. Y’all tryna force it on these kids, bro. Pushing it on the artists, pushing it on all the biggest artists. You know why? ‘Cause the kids love those artists. You attacking these kids.”
Back in August, Boosie also visited The Breakfast Club, “The World’s Most Dangerous Morning Show” to clarify his point.
“I just be feeling like sometimes I gotta speak up because, as far as straight people in the world, you don’t have any opinion. … If you say anything, ‘I’m straight, I like women,’ it’s vulgar,” he stated. “You can’t brag on really smashing or your sexuality anymore.”
While his comments were met with pushback from the hosts, he refused to listen to refuting opinions.
The following month, Lil Nas X has also appeared on the radio show, speaking to Boosie Badazz’s hateful speech. He revealed to Charlamagne Tha God, DJ Envy, and Angela Yee that although the “Mind Of A Maniac” rapper had a lot to say about him, he was not really bothered.
“I was listening to Boosie in the club the other day. I don’t really care. Honestly, I wish they didn’t say it, I guess,” he revealed. “But I like the music, I’m gonna listen to the music. If somebody got beef with me, that doesn’t mean I got beef with them.”
The “Industry Baby” artist responded to Boosie’s violent tweet issued over the weekend with a similar unbothered response on the social media platform.
“i am truly saddened. i have never been so mortified in my life. i can’t believe disney channel has yet to play halloween town this entire October,” he tweeted, shortly after the harsh message shared by Boosie Badazz.
i am truly saddened. i have never been so mortified in my life. i can’t believe disney channel has yet to play halloween town this entire october.
— MONTERO ? (@LilNasX) October 23, 2021
Still, Boosie Badazz’s violent homophobia is no laughing matter. This is the rapper’s second rant directly suggesting violence against Lil Nas X, whether it be gay-bashing or sharing a desire for the MONTERO artist to die by suicide.
According to the Centers For Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), suicide is the seventh leading cause of death for males in the United States. For Black youth, the statistics are higher. Ring the Alarm: The Crisis of Black Youth Suicide in America highlighted research showing that the suicide death rate among Black youth has been found to be increasing faster than any other racial/ethnic group.
The data reported in youth ages 10 to 19, suicide was the second leading cause of death and in 2017, more than 3,000 youth died by suicide in this age group. Among Black youth, the suicide rate rose from 2.55 per 100,000 in 2007 to 4.82 per 100,000 in 2017. Black youth under 13 years were also found to be two times more likely to die by suicide and Black males, 5 to 11 years, are more likely to die by suicide compared to their white peers.
While Boosie and his supporters continue to justify his actions, Lil Nas X has used his visibility as a Black, openly queer artist to help empower LGBTQ advocacy groups and organizations. The Trevor Project, the world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning (LGBTQ) young people, honored the Georgia native with the Inaugural “Suicide Prevention Advocate of the Year Award” in September.
“The Trevor Project is thrilled to honor Lil Nas X with the Suicide Prevention Advocate of the Year Award,” said Amit Paley, CEO and Executive Director at The Trevor Project. “His vulnerability in his journey to self-acceptance and expression has created space for candid conversations around mental health and sexual identity, signaling to LGBTQ youth that they are not alone. The Trevor Project’s research shows that over 80% of LGBTQ youth say that LGBTQ celebrities positively influence how they feel about being LGBTQ, further affirming the cultural impact of Lil Nas X being proud of who he is and an ideal recipient of this inaugural award.”