Lil Nas X Considers Name Change Out Of Respect For Nas, Michael Rapaport Chimes In

Lil Nas X has the hottest song in the world right now but he's also received a fair share of criticism. At first, he was removed from the Billboard Country charts because it did "not embrace enough elements of today's country music." However, he's also dealt with some criticism in the hip-hop world, not only for his hit single but also because of his stage name. When most people hear the name Nas, they typically think of the Illmatic rapper. Although that wasn't the inspiration behind the name, Lil Nas X said that he might change his name out of respect.

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."