Troye Sivan Opens Up About Embodying Gay Culture in the Mainstream

Troye Sivan looks so handsome on the cover of Billboard‘s first-ever Pride issue, which is out now.

Here’s what the 23-year-old “My My My” pop prince had to say…

On being an embodiment of gay culture emerging into the mainstream: “I do feel a little bit like a guinea pig sometimes. That the world or the press or whatever is sort of using me and a bunch of other young people right now as education points, [like] we’re teaching the world about all of these different things.”

On how his upcoming album compares to his 2015 debut: “Before, I had to write so much more just to find these moments where I felt like I got what I wanted. Whereas this time, everything fell into place a lot easier. I just had much more of a vision. I wanted it to be, like, a love letter.”

On his upcoming song about having a relationship with an older man at the age of 17: “I’m worried because I don’t want to ever come across that I’m condoning that or anything like it. But I felt, greater than all of those worries, a responsibility to tell that true story — of the curious gay kid who puts himself in some kind of shady situation to find a connection, like all of us crave.”

For more from Troye, visit Billboard.com.