This type of "be yourself" messaging is common in children's books. The real Lil Nas X ran into it all the time growing up — except, he says, it never felt totally genuine to him. "It was never truly enforced," he says. "It was kind of like 'do what you want, be who you want, but be who I want you to be.'"
Reaching kids on their level has been a big part of the public persona of Lil Nas X in the past year. Last spring he did an appearance on The Not-Too-Late Show, singing the theme along with its host, Elmo. Leading into the holidays, he did a virtual performance on the online video game platform Roblox, reminiscent of the Travis Scott Fortnite concert in April. But Roblox has a huge younger audience — the company says over half its users are under 13 — and the Lil Nas X concert alone drew in over 30 million visits.
Lil Nas X says his nieces and nephews, to whom his new book is dedicated, guide his thought process when he's thinking about relating to children. When Roblox approached him to do the virtual concert, he wasn't fully on board until he went to his sister's house and his nephew coincidentally asked him about the game. "And then, boom, I just decide to do it," the rapper says.