Lil Nas X

Lil Nas X Shook It Loose For His Vibrant VMA Performance Of ‘Industry Baby’ With Jack Harlow

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Not only did Lil Nas X’s MTV VMA performance receive a huge introduction from Billy Porter, but he also brought a marching band out to play the triumphant brass section of his hit song “Industry Baby.” Recreating part of the music video, the stage reproduced the “Montero Prison,” where Nas performed alongside pink-jumpsuit-clad dancers, flouncing through his cheeky choreography before being joined by a latex-covered Jack Harlow. After Harlow’s bridge, Nas hit more choreo modeled after the video’s infamous shower scene (he wore a pink Speedo for modesty’s sake), finishing out with a flourish of his other mega-hit “Montero (Call Me By Your Name).”

The timing of Nas’ VMAs appearance couldn’t be better. His debut album, Montero, is due for release in just six days. His performance caps a months-long rollout that included the releases of the controversial videos for “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” and “Industry Baby,” a pregnancy announcement complete with a maternity shoot, and a slew of attention-grabbing performances on shows such as the BET Awards and Saturday Night Live.

Nas’ performance also accompanies five nominations, including Video Of The Year, Best Direction, Video For Good, Best Visual Effects, and Best Art Direction for “Montero (Call Me By Your Name).” The video, which drew the ire of conservative commentators and old-school hip-hop heads, featured a fantasy setting in which Nas descended from paradise to a hellish underworld via stripper pole, where he offered a lapdance to a devilish ruler before killing and supplanting him on the throne.

Watch Lil Nas X’s VMA performance of “Industry Baby” with Jack Harlow above.

Jack Harlow is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Lil Nas X And Elton John Trade Iconic Looks In A New UberEats Campaign

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Lil Nas X and Elton John have become quite the pair. The two performers are separated by decades of age and experience, but linked by their status as queer icons. That connection became more apparent when Lil Nas X revealed that the “Rocketman” singer will feature on his upcoming debut album but their collaborations apparently didn’t stop there. Both are featured together in a new campaign for Uber Eats, “Tonight I’ll Be Eating,” appearing in ads showing off their shared sense of flamboyant style.

In a press release, Nas said of the near-50-year industry veteran, “I’m so excited and honored to be working with the legendary Elton John on this Uber Eats campaign. We had so much fun on set deciding what’s for dinner and trying on each other’s most iconic looks. I can’t wait for everyone to see it!” John, meanwhile, was equally effusive in his praise for the younger artist, saying, “It’s been absolutely wonderful partnering with Lil Nas X, one of the most influential voices in pop culture, and with Uber Eats, my faithful favorite for everything delicious. From taking selfies to deciding to swap looks on set, working together has been a blast.”

Both artists have new projects in the offing; Nas, as previously mentioned, drops his much-hyped debut album Montero this Friday after a rollout that included everything from Lisa Frank-resembling cover art to pregnancy photos — complete with a gift registry where fans can donate to causes important to Nas. Elton’s new project, Lockdown Sessions, is due October 22 and sees him collaborating with contemporary artists like Young Thug and Nicki Minaj.

Watch Elton John and Lil Nas X trade looks above.

Lil Nas X Takes His Fake Pregnancy To The Next Level By Sharing A Baby Registry

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Lil Nas X always commits to a concept. When his viral track “Old Town Road” took off, the musician was always seen sporting a cowboy hat. Now, Lil Nas X is gearing up for the release of his debut album Montero by faking a pregnancy and is never without his massive baby bump. Further leaning into his pregnancy cosplay, Lil Nas X has officially opened a “baby registry.”

Much like everything else he does, Lil Nas X’s baby registry isn’t typical. Instead of linking to items like onesies or cribs, Lil Nas X is using the baby registry as a way for fans to donate to important charities.

Lil Nas X made the announcement on social media alongside a few photos of him chilling with is faux-pregnant stomach. “Me and my team have set up a ‘baby registry’ for many charities if you guys would like to donate,” he wrote.

The registry is set up to mimic his Montero album’s tracklist, with each song linking to a different charity. Some of the organizations include the Transinclusive Group, which aims to create a safe space for transgender and gender non-conforming people of color to be their authentic selves, and The Bail Project, a national nonprofit organization on a mission to end cash bail, one of the key drivers of mass incarceration and structural racism in the US criminal legal system.

Montero is out 9/17 via Columbia. Pre-order it here.

Lil Nas X Sends Money To Pregnant People On Twitter, Prompting A Hilarious Reply From Guapdad 4000

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Lil Nas X is gearing up for the release of his debut album Montero, which he unveiled the most Lil Nas X way possible. Rather than simply post about the LP on social media, Lil Nas X instead shared an entire faux pregnancy shoot, calling his album his “little bundle of joy.” Taking the joke one step further, Lil Nas X wanted to spread the love to some of his pregnant social media followers, prompting some hilarious replies.

The “Industry Baby” musician took to Twitter to repay his listeners for showing him some love. Lil Nas X asked his pregnant Twitter followers to reply with their Cash App name so he can send them some funds.

Lil Nas X did end up sending some fund to his followers, but, of course, trolls quickly caught wind of his request and impersonated celebrities.

Oakland rapper Guapdad 4000 also tried to put his name out there, joking that he was a new father in order to get some fast cash. “Wow thanks @LilNasX i actually just had my baby !!! His name is lil Guap,” he wrote. “I’m a struggling brother trying to make ends meet . I have to walk 6 miles to get him his Cartier :((((”

Montero is out 10/17 via Columbia. Pre-order it here.

Guapdad 4000 is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Trevor Project Names Lil Nas X Suicide Prevention Advocate Of The Year

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September officially marks National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. In order to draw attention to the important cause, non-profit organization The Trevor Project named Lil Nas X as the inaugural Suicide Prevention Advocate Of The Year.

The Trevor Project’s mission is to focus on suicide prevention specifically within the LGBTQ+ community. Alongside announcing Lil Nas X as their award recipient, for his “fearless effort” in changing the status quo around what it means to be queer and Black in the mainstream music industry, the organization notes some startling statistics. 42 percent of LGBTQ youth “seriously considered” attempting suicide in the past year, including more than half of transgender and nonbinary youth.

Accepting the title in a statement, Lil Nas X noted the “very real” discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community:

“Thank you so much to The Trevor Project for this award and for all they do for the LGBTQ community. Discrimination around sexuality and gender identity is still very real, and our community deserves to feel supported and totally free to be themselves. I often get messages from fans telling me about their struggles with depression and suicidal thoughts, and it made me realize that this was something bigger than myself. If using my voice and expressing myself in my music can help even one kid out there who feels alone, then it was all worth it.”

Echoing Lil Nas X’s statement, The Trevor Project’s CEO and Executive Director Amit Paley said they are “thrilled” to honor the musician with the award. “His vulnerability in his journey to self acceptance and expression has created space for candid conversations around mental health and sexual identity, signaling to LGBTQ youth that they are not alone,” Paley said. “The Trevor Project’s research shows that over 80 percent of LGBTQ youth say that LGBTQ celebrities positively influence how they feel about being LGBTQ, further affirming the cultural impact of Lil Nas X being proud of who he is and an ideal recipient of this inaugural award.”

Boosie Imagines An Unlikely Worst-Case Scenario In Response To Lil Nas X’s Latest ‘Montero’ Stunt

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At this point, people reacting to Lil Nas X’s provocations are doing more work to promote him and his music than he is. Every time he comes up with a colorful troll, they react loudly on the internet, drawing more attention to his stunts and the work behind them. He responds with another promotional prank and they lose it all over again. At this point, it’d probably be best for them if they stopped reacting, which is exactly what Nas wants.

But then we wouldn’t get gems like watching Twitter relentlessly roasting Boosie for his borderline obsession with the 22-year-old rapper turned pop star. Certainly, it’s a lot of fun to just imagine Boosie sitting around thinking about Nas’ latest antics and getting very … ahem … piqued about it. In this case, the antic in question is Nas’ recently released “pregnancy” photoshoot (with his album Montero, his baby — get it?), which was published by no less an outlet than People magazine — a subversive, historical act in itself.

Lil Nas seems to have long since decided that since he’ll be made a public spectacle anyway, he’s going to control the narrative and wring every advantage for himself out of the media’s invasive coverage, lightly satirizing the public fascination with the lives of celebrities along the way. And Boosie can’t stand it. “NAS X WTF U JUST DONT STOP,” he tweet at three o’clock in the morning. “I THINK HES GOING TO TURN AROUND N SUCK ONE OF HIS BACK GROUND DANCERS DICK ON NATIONAL TV.”

While that’s … well, not something that you even can do because the FCC is a thing, it’s very interesting that that’s where Boosie’s mind goes. The gentleman doth protest too much, methinks — or at least, fans Twitter do. It didn’t take long for folks to question why Boosie seems to spend so much time thinking about Lil Nas X when he could be doing, y’know, literally anything else. When Montero does come out, it’s easy to wonder whether the Louisiana rap legend will be one of the first to hit “play” while pondering what Nas’ next move will be.