Lil Nas X’s Old town road might have smashed the charts over four years ago, yet the road for Lil Nas X feels like it has only just begun. Born in Lithia Springs, Georgia, Montero Lamar Hill (AKA Lil Nas X) has broken his way into the music industry becoming the first high profile black queer man expressing himself through a mixture of the pop and rap genres. His debut album Montero highlights his struggles of expectance and fame, all whilst also saving plenty of time to laugh and flaunt at his haters.
Popstar or Rapper? A question that Lil Nas X purposefully confuses as he hops across a whole assortment of sounds within his 15-track album. Within Montero, Lil Nas X proves that he isn’t just a TikTok star, one hit wonder, or SoundCloud rapper. He perfectly combines his abilities to rap and sing resulting in an album which promises a new type of artist. One that is open to recite his childhood struggles, but also proudly announce to the world who he truly is, opting to use the screen to call out and troll haters, instead of hiding behind it.
Coming out swinging, the album opens with chart hit “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)”, a direct response to the backlash received when announcing he was gay to the world. The video further pours salt into the wounds of his opposition as he can be seen pole dancing into hell before giving Satan a lap dance. Lil Nas X doesn’t stop their however, his victory lap continues into his second chart hit “Industry Baby”, where he tells the world he is here to stay and will not just be another one hit wonder. The album however isn’t just one big middle finger to his haters, track 5 acts as an interlude where we hear Lil Nas X talking about how he is losing direction and feels like his life has no meaning. This therefore acts as turning point on the album and a warning for listens to hold on for an emotional plummet into his mind.
Track 7 “One of Me”, written in the words of his haters, adds an element of humanity to the artist who is normally meming himself and others. Exploring the inner doubts and critics that come into his head (“I like this, I don’t like that” he opens with), Lil Nas X battles with the difficulty that comes with being at the height of his fame. However, just where you feel that he needs an arm around his shoulder, the track accompanies his critical lyrics with the piano of Elton John. Another gay icon who feels like he has perfectly arrived to offer his support and advice to the man who is next to tackle this toxic and harsh landscape.
From here, Montero shifts continuously between genres keeping audiences wondering what’s next. “Lost in the Citadel” mixes the sounds of electronic-pop with rock and punk elements throughout, allowing Lil Nas X to explore the difficulties of leaving behind a relationship that deep down he knows was not good for him. Moving into “Tales of Dominica”, Lil Nas X combines a surprisingly positive beat with a deep and detailed story of his dysfunctional family, depression and dark times of his life growing up. The combination of the positive and negative elements leaves audiences with a track like no other on this album. Falling deeper into this hole of self-therapy comes “Void”, Lil Nas X’s longest song on the album, possibly reflecting the theme of the song with his sexuality taking the longest to come to terms with and being accepted for. Within this track he talks about the difficulties of dealing with this alone (“Trapped in a lonely, loner life, looking for love where I’m denied” he reflects). Finally, ending the album in a similar but starkly different theme that he began his career on, Lil Nas X once again teams up with a Cyrus, but this time Miley joins him, almost completing a full circle. Where “Old Town Road” projected the idea of endless possibilities and an innocence of an up and coming artist, “Am I Dreaming” tells the story of the end (“As I’m sinking, I relive the story”), a harsh but reflective insight into the damage fame can cause on people.
Although around 9 of the 15 tracks on Lil Nas X’s debut album highlights his childhood struggles, sexuality and online hate, somehow, he manages to avoid the album becoming a repetitive, attention seek. Done through the constant changes in genre and combination of positive beats with negative themes, Lil Nas X manages to make even the deepest songs possible chart hits. Also, his conscious decision to favour shorter sub-3-minute songs instead of the industry standard 3 to 3 and a half minute tracks, allows for the songs to be harder hitting, avoiding audiences losing interest. Overall, this results in a thoughtful free flowing second half of the album which largely juxtaposes the fast paced, anthems of the beginning.
Montero is therefore a smash hit debut album from Lil Nas X and perfectly reflects the social context of its production, a world where you are able to be anything you want to be, a gay black rapper, but also judged on every single thing you do. Lil Nas X puts his middle finger up to this judgement at the beginning of his album, before pulling back the curtain and either bravely, or stupidly providing the haters with even more ammunition to fire back at him. Although clearly stating he is not a role model in multiple interviews, Lil Nas X gives all young minorities a symbol of power and the confidence to stand up for themselves. Montero leaves us as an audience wanting more, which is the perfect position to be in for an artist who is at the beginning of a long road.
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