Kid cudi says lil nas x will 'break' down the 'homophobic cloud over hip-hop:' he's a 'true rockstar'

Kid Cudi is on Team _Montero_. Lil Nas X is featured as one of _Time_'s 100 most influential people of 2021 — and Kid Cudi wrote a touching tribute for the hip-hop star, who Cudi

credits as a trailblazer for gay and Black men in the genre. "Lil Nas X is a new twist on some of the themes I was riding on when I first started out: being true to yourself and not

giving a f— what anyone says," Cudi, 37, wrote. "What he's doing is what we need right now. To have a gay man in hip-hop doing his thing, crushing records—that is huge for us

and for Black excellence." "The way he's unafraid to make people uncomfortable is so rock 'n' roll. He's a true rock star," Cudi added. Cudi continued by

saying it made him "sad" to see Lil Nas, 22, tweet that "maybe a lot of [Black male artists] just don't wanna work with me" after the tracklist only featured Black

women and white men. At the time, Cudi replied to his tweet saying he'd be happy to work with him and "frolic in rose gardens w u singin about my pain." RELATED VIDEO: LIL NAS

X'S DEBUT ALBUM MONTERO FEATURES BIG STARS — INCLUDING ELTON JOHN & MEGAN THEE STALLION In his _Time 100_ piece, he praised Lil Nas for the work he's doing in defying

stereotypes and going against all odds. "There's a homophobic cloud over hip-hop, and he's going to break that s— down," he wrote. "We have to stand with him.

I'm going to do whatever I have to do to let him know—you have my support." "When we do our song together, however trippy the video is, let's get sexy with it," he

concluded. The new _Time 100_ distinction comes just days before the singer is set to release his debut album _Montero_. "You're getting a lot of stories about me," he told

PEOPLE earlier this month about the record. "You're getting a lot of stories about my past and where I want to be in my love life. But they're also a bop. I feel like I

finally found a great balance between being as real as possible within my music and making a hit song." Lil Nas X added at the time that he also learned through the creation of this

album "to have full faith in myself." "The only person that really has to believe in me is myself," he says. "It's been a lot of self-affirmations this year

that I probably would not have been able to do two years ago." On the new record, Lil Nas X teamed up with Megan Thee Stallion on "Dolla Sign Slime," Elton John for "One

of Me," Miley Cyrus for "Am I Dreaming" and Doja Cat for "Scoop" on the album. "I hope every single corner of the globe is reached with this album," he

said, before declaring, "It's going to happen!"