Outside of Lil Nas X’s top-charting songs and groundbreaking music videos, he’s also widely admired for breaking barriers throughout his career.

“It’s okay to be delusional when you’re chasing your dreams” – Lil Nas X pic.twitter.com/97MB6Zh2Rz
— 𝙈𝘼𝙅𝙊𝙍 ⚜️ (@lilnasxmajor) March 23, 2022

The admiration led the Montero artist to win “Male Artist of The Year” at the iHeartRadio Music Awards on Wednesday night. Lil Nas X never leaves an audience untouched by his larger-than-life personality and wit, but he went for a more inspiring approach during his acceptance speech.

Lil Nas X’s FULL acceptance speech for ‘Male Artist of the Year’ at the #iHeartAwards2022 pic.twitter.com/BWPAq6iSy9
— 𝙈𝘼𝙅𝙊𝙍 ⚜️ (@lilnasxmajor) March 23, 2022

While holding his award, Lil Nas X recalled a recent TikTok video he came across a woman encouraging viewers to be ‘delusional’ as a manifestation tool in life. He shared that after watching the clip, he didn’t quite comprehend the concept until he took the time to reflect on his music career.

@kierralewis75 Be delusional! #lifehacks #lifeadvice #foryoupage #fyp #viral ♬ Love You So – The King Khan & BBQ Show

“That didn’t make sense to me,” he said. “And then I thought about it and I wouldn’t be where I am right now in my life and career if I weren’t delusional. Believing that I could drop out of school and become an international success within a year, it’s delusional. Believing that I could come out of the closet in the height of my career…to think that I could do that would be delusional.”

“To think that I could make a song about a man lusting after another man in a world where…it’s still legal in many places to be prosecuted and actually be killed for being who you are, for being gay, it’s delusional to think that song could be the number one song in the world,” he continued.

IHeartRadio Music Awards

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