Lil Nas X‘s father Robert Stafford blames fleeting fame for his son’s recent mental breakdown in California.
Stafford said the pressure of being famous was too much for Nas.
The “Old Town Road” country rapper was arrested after he charged officers while walking naked down Ventura Blvd on August 21.
Nas was booked into the Van Nuys, CA. Jail where he spent the weekend. He was released from jail on $75,000 bond on August 25.
No drugs or alcohol were found in Nas’ system after his arrest.
Stafford said Nas was under pressure to duplicate the massive success he had with “Old Town Road.” But the pressure got the best of him.
“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.”
“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,” he continued.
Stafford said he cried when he flew to Los Angeles and saw Nas in jail for the first time.
“I went to visit him in jail and as soon as I walked through that door, I couldn’t do anything but cry,” Stafford told The Sunday Times. “To see my baby boy on the other side of that glass. We shed tears with each other for a minute.”
He added, “We all have breakdowns every now and then, but the difference is, [his] get played out in the public eye.”
Nas faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted on all charges.
