Todrick Hall Reacts to His First Billboard Cover: ‘I Am Completely Blown Away’

This week, singing superstar Todrick Hall graces the cover of the Pride Issue of Billboard magazine. Now, the 35-year-old sensation is ready to celebrate.

In a post on his Instagram page, Hall showed off the official cover, while reflecting on his achievement. “Never in my wildest dreams did I ever believe that I’d someday see my face on the cover of @billboard magazine,” he wrote. “I am completely blown away! I don’t believe there could possibly be a more important time for a proud out black man to grace the cover.”

The star went on, reminding his fans to not give up on their hopes, pointing to himself as an unsigned artist appearing on the cover. “Chase your dreams, visibility is everything,” he said. “Don’t measure the value of your gift by the short sighted homophobic and racially fueled views of a manager or producer, it’s not your job to help them see the fire and beauty in you. YOU ARE THE ONLY PERSON WHO HAS TO BELIEVE IN YOU, PERIODT.”

In a second post, Hall also took a moment to show fans a quote that didn’t make it into the article aimed at higher-ups in the music industry. “If you, as a manager, represent a gay or black artist and you don’t give them the same amount of attention and resources as you do your white and non gay artists, you and your team should take a moment and consider the reasons why,” he wrote.

Hall pointed to Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl” as a song that, while progressive in 2007, shouldn’t be the example for LGBTQ representation in music. “It’s 2020 and now I want to hear ‘I kissed a girl and I LOVED it’” he said. “The fact that we as gay people have to rummage through literally millions & millions of pop songs searching for something with a non specific pronoun to play at our weddings is sad.”

He also shouted out a few of his fellow queer artists, including Kehlani, Adam Lambert, Sam Smith and Lil Nas X, for their contributions to pop culture as queer people, while making clear to those reading that “it’s time” that those artists be recognized for said contributions.

Check out both of Hall’s posts below, and read Billboard’s latest cover story here.