Lil Xan's Career Is Flamin' Hot

Playboy joins the polarizing rapper on tour to talk haters, label woes, Cheetos and ex Noah Cyrus

- Dan Hyman

“I’m basically everybody’s punching bag,” Lil Xan tells Playboy on a recent October afternoon. Not that he minds. The 22-year-old, whose real name is Diego Leanos, forever looks like a rebellious teenager just awakened from a midday nap, given his short stature and spaced-out eyes. He revels in being known as much as an internet curiosity as a serious musician, and he’s certainly playing the part: There are his numerous face tattoos (“Zzzz” under one eye, "Candy" under the other), a “stunt” relationship to pop singer Noah Cyrus (more on that later), his widely derided disregard of rap icon Tupac Shakur and, most recently, a Cheetos-induced hospital visit.

To him, it’s all gravy. “Because, guess what?” says Xan, who has emerged as one of hip-hop’s most polarizing new stars. A rectangular messenger bag is slung across his torso, and a "DOPE" beanie is resting just above his eyes while sitting here in the basement dressing room of an Indianapolis concert venue, where he’s set to perform in a few hours. That negative attention? “It only helps my career,” he says. Sure, many are unaware Xan had zero intention of ever being a rapper and that he nonetheless saw one of his songs go viral last year on SoundCloud. Or that he was raised dirt-poor and now pays $8500 a month for his Los Angeles apartment. Frankly, Xan doesn’t actually care if you’ve even heard his music.