Brazilian singer Thiago Pantaleão twerked his ass off to say bye to Gay Twitter—and Lil Nas X noticed

"Every time I get to that part [during a concert], it's a moment that people record with their cell phones," Pantaleão tells Out. "I posted that video thinking that people who already follow me, and know what I do, would appreciate it, but I didn't expect it to go that viral… especially outside of Brazil."

He adds, "Most of the views are coming from outside of Brazil, which is surprising, but it also makes me happy."

Pantaleão's hypnotic twerking video quickly went viral and kicked off a full meltdown mode for Gay Twitter users who realized what they'd be missing out on.

"Look at the going away presents that Brazil is giving us MY GOD," @MissSassbox wrote while re-sharing Pantaleão's video. "Banning Twitter in Brazil is a hate crime," @DeonMims007 said in an X post. "We lost [crying emojis]," @SomaKazima reacted.

But one particularly response stood out in the replies section: Lil Nas X himself passionately reacting to the video with fighting words for X CEO Elon Musk.

"Elon will PAY! Mark my words!" Nas X wrote in response.

Without missing a beat, Pantaleão suggested that Nas X should "come to Brazil, bae."

"I just lost it when I saw his response to my video," Pantaleão tells Out, chuckling. "I was flying off the handle — punching walls, screaming. Not only is he my ultimate 'crush,' but he also inspires me a lot. He's paved the way for the artist that I've been able to become. He gave me freedom to be myself through art."

As an artist creating pop music in Brazil, Pantaleão incorporates many elements of Brazilian funk into his catalog and performances. However, Pantaleão's range as a musician is far wider than fans of his twerking videos might realize. Pantaleão is also a strong singer and a talented songwriter who is deeply inspired by the R&B and hip hop scenes in the U.S.

As a Black, bisexual male artist, Pantaleão has also faced various similar obstacles — and prejudices — that Nas X has had to overcome. "I've been a fan of Lil Nas X since the very first video I saw of him," the Brazilian singer explains. "He's been representing guys like us in pop culture, and I'm so happy to see his success around the world. I hope I can make a song with him one day. He's such a big inspiration for me."

But get it twisted: Pantaleão doesn't ignore or dismiss the flirty response that he got from Nas X on social media. And, in case you were wondering, Pantaleão is single!

"I did send him a DM saying that I'd be open to collab on a song, or maybe just have some fun and do some kissing... you never know, right?" Pantaleão says. "I think 'Industry Baby' is my favorite song of his, or at least the one that I play the most. But, yeah, I'm constantly listening to his music and dancing to it."

Pantaleão isn't brand-new to his level of exposure and attention. This is a pop star on the rise with 1.3 million followers on TikTok, 859,000 followers on Instagram, 732,000 followers on X/Twitter as of this writing. He currently has nearly 390,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, and has accumulated over 26.4 million viewers on his YouTube channel.

Pantaleão released his debut album, 2022's Fim do Mundo (which translates to End of the World), with bangers like "Desculpa Por Eu Não Te Amar" and "Mente Pra Mim." In August 2024, he dropped his highly anticipated sophomore album, Nova Era (which translates to New Era) featuring hit songs like "Malícia" and "O Que Eu Ganho."

It is still very challenging for Brazilian artists to cross over into other countries. First and foremost, there aren't that many countries with Portuguese as a native language. Moreover, most of Brazil's neighboring countries speak Spanish as their first language — which turns Brazil into this massive "cousin" that often gets lost in translation within Latin American culture. And yet, Pantaleão's twerking video seems to be helping him make new connections beyond Nas X.

"Besides the [Nas X interaction], I think the craziest thing was Rosalía following me on TikTok," Pantaleão tells Out. "There are some people who work with Beyoncé and followed me on Instagram and X/Twitter. I'm like, 'Woah, what's going on here? I guess some people outside of Brazil are noticing me!'"

This exposure to a more global audience is exciting, and I ask Pantaleão to reference artists that he enjoys listening to and would like to potentially collaborate with.

"I really want to make music with Lil Nas X and Troye Sivan," he says. "I'd love to collaborate with Summer Walker, H.E.R., the girls from Flo, Chlöe and Halle [Bailey] — all artists who have been part of the soundtrack of my life. There's also Jenevieve, who's an artist that I really enjoy; and UMI, who I love so much."

On the flip side, Pantaleão doesn't forget or dismiss the Brazilian musicians who have had his back from the very start.

"Anitta is one of the greatest artists in the history of Brazilian music," he highlights. "She's been so supportive of me since the beginning of my career, and we still exchange messages sometimes. Brazil has many big artists who have been representing the LGBTQIAP+ community and have been supportive of me."

"Sai da Frente" — a standout track from Pantaleão's brand-new Nova Era album that features the iconic Brazilian female rapper Karol Conká — literally starts with a verse where the singer tells someone that they can't "hide behind a screen," arguing that this person's "Twitter troop" won't be of any help to them.

Twitter, even after its X rebranding, has always been one of the most popular social networks for Brazilians. Reports show that Brazil has the fifth-largest population of active users on X/Twitter, which means that the platform will likely get hit with a significant decrease in overall engagement. This X/Twitter ban isn't going down easy for Brazilians either, even if most people there agree that it's up to Musk to fix the platform's existing issues.

"As long as I'm able to keep posting my little dancing videos, I'm fine with whatever platform," Pantaleão jokes, and then switches up to a more serious tone. "I'm actually pretty sad about this whole thing. Twitter was the most 'personal' social network that I had, by far. I've had the most direct connection with people on there. I could just be myself there, not the 'company' or the 'product' known as Thiago Pantaleão."

After a months-long back-and-forth between X/Twitter team and the Brazilian government, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes determined that the country will no longer play ball with Musk and his stances on "free speech" (regularly used as a justification for rampant "hate speech" on the platform). In 2022, even conservative politicians in Brazil refused to entertain any allegations from Jair Bolsonaro after he wasn't reelected for a second term (and lost the presidency) and tried to double-down on allegations of "election fraud."

After dealing with Bolsonaro (often described as a "Tropical Trump") and shutting down his unfounded claims two years ago, the country is now also taking a different approach to dealing with Musk. By law, hate speech is literally a crime in Brazil that you can go to jail for. So, unless X/Twitter has legal representation in Brazil that can answer for potential "hate speech" shared by its users, the company is no longer allowed to operate in the country.

"I really hope that this situation ends up improving, and that Elon Musk can commit to having a Twitter representative in Brazil. It's the least that he can do," Pantaleão says. "I mean, he isn't a god who can just play games with the laws of an entire country."

I mean… we have to stan.