Lil Nas X’s father, Robert Stafford, opened up about the rapper’s erratic arrest in Los Angeles and blamed the pressures of fame and family for his son’s breakdown.
Lil Nas X was nearly naked and behaving erratically on a Los Angeles street just before sunrise when police took him into custody, but his father says the real story goes deeper than what the cameras caught.
His father, Robert Stafford, a gospel singer from Atlanta, told The Times that the incident was the result of mounting emotional strain, the weight of fame and unresolved family trauma.
“I understand how the music business is,” Stafford said. “It’s like a high. When you get to that level, you want that drug again, you want to hit that high again.”
The 26-year-old rapper, born Montero Hill, was arrested in late August after being spotted wandering Ventura Boulevard in Studio City wearing only cowboy boots and underwear.
Witnesses said he was incoherent, rapping to himself and placing a traffic cone on his head. By the time officers arrived, he had stripped completely and allegedly charged at them, leading to his arrest.
Lil Nas X was briefly hospitalized for what authorities believed could be a drug overdose, then booked into jail. He now faces four felony charges, including three counts of battery on a police officer and one count of resisting an executive officer.
Stafford said his son has struggled with the pressure of supporting others while feeling powerless to help his mother, who has battled addiction for years.
“For a 26-year-old to have to deal with what he’s dealing with — to be a breadwinner for a lot of people, the inability to change his mother’s situation and the pressure he puts on himself…” Stafford said.
He described visiting his son in jail as an emotional moment.
“I went to visit him in jail and as soon as I walked through that door, I couldn’t do anything but cry,” Stafford said. “To see my baby boy on the other side of that glass. We shed tears with each other for a minute. And I had to tell him that ‘what you’re going through is normal.’
“We all have breakdowns every now and then, but the difference is, yours get played out in the public eye.”
Stafford believes the arrest could mark a turning point for his son.
“Hopefully, this is a turning point in his mental stability,” he said. “Sometimes God will take you through your worst moment to give you your best moment.”
Lil Nas X has pleaded not guilty. Bail was set at $75,000, with conditions that he avoid illegal substances and enter outpatient treatment.
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