Lil Nas X & Jack Harlow’s “INDUSTRY BABY” is making waves as it claims its second straight week in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Lil Nas, one of the few openly queer rappers, is celebrated for pushing the envelope in hip-hop but often faces backlash for events that have nothing to do with him. After DaBaby’s widely criticized homophobic comments at Rolling Loud Miami, for example, rapper T.I. tried to draw parallels between DaBaby’s situation and Lil Nas X’s sense of self-expression.

Homophobia in hip-hop has been widely covered, but while inroads are being made, there is still a long way to go. To find out what it’s like for artists on the come up, Genius spoke with rapper Controverse as well as singers SaintBlu and Kendal Rhone about carving a lane in an industry that often wants them to stay off the road.