Lil Nas X apologized toNicki Minaj for pretending he wasn't a "Barb" — the term Minaj's fans use for themselves — and confirmed long-time suspicions he ran a Minaj stan account in the past.- Ample evidence pointed toward Lil Nas X being the person behind "nasmaraj," an account dedicated to stanning (AKA being a fan of) Minaj.
- While the "Old Town Road" rapper hasn't claimed "nasmaraj" by name, he did tweet about how he hid his Minaj account before coming out as gay.
- "It was a bit of a sting when you denied being a barb, but I understand," Minaj tweeted. "Congratulations on building up your confidence to speak your truth."
"Old Town Road" rapper Lil Nas X and Nicki Minaj had a bonding moment on Twitter, when the former apologized for hiding his "Barb" past as a Minaj stan account.
Evidence that Lil Nas X ran the Minaj fan page "nasmaraj" has long piled up, but the singer has never confirmed or denied that the account was him, until now.
Without specifically identifying himself as "nasmaraj," Lil Nas X nonetheless indicated that he stayed silent on whether he ran the account because he didn't want to out himself as gay before he had secured a place in the "rap/music industry."
The admission came after Lil Nas X replied to Minaj's tweet and asked her if she'd like to collaborate on a song (according to his Twitter bio, Lil Nas X's album is "91%" done). Previously, on his EP, the singer featured Cardi B — Minaj's rap nemesis — on his song "Rodeo."
—nope (@LilNasX) June 17, 2020
Then, in response to a Barb (Minaj's fans call themselves the "
In response to someone writing "Being a barb don't make you gay," the singer clarified his position, saying, "people will assume if you had an entire fan page dedicated to nicki u are gay."
—nope (@LilNasX) June 17, 2020
Minaj then tweeted a response, writing that "it was a bit of a sting" when Lil Nas X denied his Barb past, but Minaj congratulated him for "building up" his confidence and being truthful.
—Mrs. Petty (@NICKIMINAJ) June 17, 2020
Lil Nas X responded to that with an apology, writing "i'm sorry i did that in a time where u were already getting so much bandwagon hate." He added that he "was just so afraid of people finding out about me and losing everything before i even got a chance."
—nope (@LilNasX) June 17, 2020
Minaj has always been a controversial rapper with an enthusiastic, loud fanbase. In 2019, when Lil Nas X skyrocketed from being a simple stan account to becoming a global icon thanks to "Old Town Road," he left his Barb account in the shadows, despite people calling him out for it online.
The "bandwagon hate" he referred to is a period when it became easy to shade Minaj, thanks to her rival Cardi B's growing success and Minaj's own admission that she became the "bad guy" in a lot of rap beef.
Before making his stan account history known, plenty of evidence pointed to Lil Nas X being 'nasmaraj'
The account believed to have belonged to Lil Nas X doesn't exist anymore, because it got suspended. But there's a lot of evidence contributing to the theory that "nasmaraj," a Twitter account known for tweetdecking and Minaj stanning, was really him.
"#LilNasXIsOverParty" even trended on Twitter after users found old, Islamophobic tweets on "nasmaraj" and criticized the singer for them.
New York Magazine's Intelligencer blog did a thorough examination of the evidence and ruled that "nasmaraj" is most likely Lil Nas X's old account, although the singer's team denied that to Billboard at one point.
And "nasmaraj" wasn't just a nobody on Twitter — similarly to how Lil Nas X has built up a following of nearly 5 million Twitter followers, with tweets that gain huge numbers regularly, "nasmaraj" had a six-digit following and was involved in tweetdecking, a practice where popular Twitter users spam the platform with coordinated and often fake or stolen content in an effort to go viral.
Evidence linking "nasmaraj" to Lil Nas X includes a Reddit account, u/NasMaraj, that identified itself as both Lil Nas X and "@nasmaraj" on Twitter. On Reddit, u/NasMaraj promoted "Old Town Road" right after Lil Nas X released it.
Additionally, after "nasmaraj" was suspended on Twitter for tweetdecking, a new account, "nasmarai," identified itself as "nasmaraj's" new Twitter account.
The "nasmarai" account had an email in its Twitter bio that later appeared in Lil Nas X's bio as his email account. And on Instagram, Lil Nas X's description used to say he was "nasmarai" on Twitter.
With Lil Nas X now admitting he did have a Minaj stan account at one point, it's pretty clear-cut that the singer really was "nasmaraj" after all — but his newer, more refined Twitter presence (see: an absence of offensive comments and tweetdecking practices) shows he left his stan Twitter legacy firmly in the past.
A representative for Lil Nas X didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment about whether he was "nasmaraj."
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