Lil Nas X didn't realise he'd sampled Nirvana on 'Panini'

Rapper Lil Nas X poses in the press room at the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards held at the Prudential Center on August 26, 2019 in Newark, New Jersey, United States. Picture: Bang Showbiz

Rapper Lil Nas X poses in the press room at the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards held at the Prudential Center on August 26, 2019 in Newark, New Jersey, United States. Picture: Bang Showbiz

Published Sep 5, 2019

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Lil Nas X has admitted he had never heard of Nirvana's iconic LP 'Nevermind' until he found out he had sampled the song "In Bloom" on "Panini".

The "Old Town Road" hitmaker has revealed he had never heard of the grunge legends' seminal 1991 album and had no idea that his track on his debut EP '7' had a snippet of the song from the famous record.

Luckily, Frances Bean Cobain, the daughter of the 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' group's late frontman Kurt Cobain, heard it and approved the sample for him.

Nas - whose real name is Montero Hill - told SiriusXM: "I put out the snippet [of 'Panini'] and everyone was like, 'Wow, he's sampling Nirvana.'

"I was like, 'Where? I'm not sampling Nirvana, this beat doesn't have Nirvana in it.'

"Then, I listened to 'In Bloom' in full, and I was like, 'Oh, okay',".

He added: "I actually heard from Kurt's daughter. "She's the one who pretty much approved the song and she told me how much she loved the video for 'Old Town Road' and stuff ... It actually got me into the album for the first time. I had never heard 'Nevermind'."

Meanwhile, the country trap rapper recently revealed he plans on making "at least 70 songs" for his debut album.

The 20-year-old star shot to fame after 'Old Town Road' went viral on video-sharing platform TikTok earlier this year, and he revealed his first record, which is only "two per cent" complete, will be very "personal" and varied.

He said: "With this [project], I wanna have at least 70 songs to choose from."

Although he said it will be "more personal", he also promised it will be "slapping".

It's likely he'll open about about his sexuality on the record, after he came out as gay during Pride Month in June this year.

The 'Rodeo' rapper recently admitted he believes the universe was sending him signs to push him toward opening up about his sexuality.

Nas said being thrust into the spotlight made him realise it was time to come out.

He said: "I never would have done that if I wasn't in a way pushed by the universe. In June, I'm seeing Pride flags everywhere and seeing couples holding hands - little stuff like that."

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