Montero

Lil Nas X Threatens To Sue Himself With Parody Firm Billboards Promoting His Album

by
YouTube

Lil Nas X continues to be a master promoter in the week leading up to the release of his debut album. In addition to dropping a contractions video paying off the maternity photoshoot he shared a week ago, he’s now playing on the court-themed trailer for his “Industry Baby” video by sharing billboards threatening to sue… himself. The billboards, which popped up in Hollywood, are clear spoofs of similar cheesy billboard ads for real law firms. However, Nas’ billboards inform viewers they may be entitled to financial compensation for such silly reasons as being gay, being single, missing “the real America,” and crucially, hating Lil Nas X.

I’ve called Lil Nas X a masterful troll in the past but it bears repeating: The kid knows exactly how to turn any and all complaints against him into comedy gold, then use that gold to buy the adoration and attention of even more fans — and more complaints, ensuring a never-ending supply of promo fodder. Knowing that his Blackness, gayness, youth, and flamboyance will be used against him, he’s kind of like Eminem’s B. Rabbit in the 8 Mile finale, stocked up with lighthearted, self-deprecating gags that turn the light of scrutiny on his detractors and ensure that the crowd is firmly on his side.

Industry Baby, meanwhile, drops at midnight tonight via Columbia Records. It features appearances from Doja Cat, Elton John, Jack Harlow, Megan Thee Stallion, and Miley Cyrus — but no Black male artists, unfortunately. While some viewed that as intentional on Nas’ part, Kid Cudi called it part of hip-hop’s “homophobic cloud” — one that Nas’s new album hopes to help erase.

Lil Nas X Used To Smoke So Much Weed He Had Pneumonia For An Entire Month Without Knowing It

by

Lil Nas X is just hours away from the release of his anticipated debut album, Montero, which is slated to feature some vulnerable lyrics about his upbringing. Ahead of the album’s release, the musician sat down with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe to discuss the LP and just how far he’s come from his “Old Town Road” days.

Lil Nas X and Lowe’s conversation turned to his early college days, when he first found that music gave him an outlet to discover his purpose. At the time, Lil Nas X was coping with feelings of extreme anxiety, which he tried to ignore. But there was also a time where he was coping by smoking excessive amounts of weed. In fact, he would smoke so much that he even had pneumonia for an entire month without knowing it.

Replying to Lowe’s inquiry about substances, Lil Nas X said he used to smoke weed several times a day:

“I’d smoke like seven times a day. I was smoking so much that I had pneumonia and I didn’t realize it for like an entire month. They were like, ‘Oh, you really have to stop smoking right now.’ There was literally liquid in my lungs. It was crazy.”

Watch Lil Nas X’s full interview with Lowe above.

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

Lil Nas X Is ‘Having Contractions’ Hours Ahead Of Birthing His Debut Album ‘Montero’

by
Getty Image

It’s been two years since Lil Nas X released his record-breaking debut single “Old Town Road,” and he’s now gearing up for his debut album, Montero. But since the musician doesn’t do anything conventionally, he’s been advertising that he’s “pregnant” with his debut album for weeks, going so far as to sport a fake baby bump. Now that he’s just hours away from the LP’s officially release, Lil Nas X continues to lean into the pregnancy stunt by now saying he’s having painful contractions.

Promoting the impending release of Montero, Lil Nas X shared a video of him tightly clutching his rotund belly and breathing heavily in pain. “I think it’s coming. I think the baby is coming,” he says while pretending to have contractions.

Along with experiencing the pains of contractions, Lil Nas X also wanted to have some fun with his pregnancy, so he threw a Pinterest-ready baby shower. His event was complete with cupcakes with images of his Montero album frosted on top, balloons, and a silver throne. But much to his disappointment, none of his guests arrived on time to the baby shower. “spent hours setting up for my baby shower and no one showed up,” he wrote alongside a video of the event.

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

Kid Cudi Thinks Lil Nas X Is Going To Break Down Hip-Hop’s ‘Homophobic Cloud’

by
Getty Image

Although excitement for Lil Nas X’s upcoming debut album Montero is generally pretty high, some fans noticed that the tracklist the rising star shared was short on other Black artists — specifically, male ones. Nas addressed the non-controversy by pointing out that, rather than having an agenda, he was actually being shunned for reasons that should be obvious to anyone with two working brain cells to rub together to form a thought. However, he had one other artist in his corner in the form of Kid Cudi, who replied that he’d love to work with the “Old Town Road” singer.

Today, Nas was revealed as one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2021 and to comment on the rulebreaker’s success, the magazine tapped none other than Cudi himself to write a glowing mini-profile. In it, he takes a step further than simply standing in solidarity with Lil Nas X, criticizing hip-hop for cultivating a culture of homophobia and predicting that Lil Nas will be part of a systemic change.

“When I saw the tweet about Nas’ album Montero not featuring Black male artists, and he replied that “maybe a lot of them just don’t wanna work with me,” that made me sad,” Cudi writes. “There’s a homophobic cloud over hip-hop, and he’s going to break that sh-t down. We have to stand with him. I’m going to do whatever I have to do to let him know—you have my support. When we do our song together, however trippy the video is, let’s get sexy with it.”

You can read the full profile here.

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

by
Getty Image

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.

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

by
Getty Image

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.

Lil Nas X Is Pregnant With His Album ‘Montero’ In A Hilarious Maternity Photoshoot

by
Getty Image

Lil Nas X’s album Montero is on the way, and if there’s anybody in music who knows how to hilarious drum up attention online, it’s Nas. His latest stunt is particularly good: To promote the album, he has shared a “maternity” photoshoot for the album with which he is currently “pregnant.”

Despite how it may seem, this isn’t a reaction to Drake’s maternal Certified Lover Boy cover art, but just a fortuitous coincidence. Nas told People that when he saw Drake’s cover, he thought, “There’s no way the universe is lining up this perfect for this to happen,” Nas thought.

Nas actually came up with the maternity shoot idea after hearing Megan Thee Stallion’s verse on his song “Dolla Sign Slime” for the first time, saying, “I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is amazing,’ so I immediately called my stylist. She was like, ‘Wow, this all comes together. Your album. Your baby.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, this is my baby, huh?’ As a joke, she was like, ‘Yeah, you should do a pregnancy shoot.’ I was like, ‘You know what? That’s actually brilliant.’ So now we have this entire thing coming out, and it’s going to be amazing.”

Along with the maternity photos, Nas even had an ultrasound mocked up:

Elsewhere during the piece, he spoke about what fans can expect from the album: “You’re getting a lot of stories about me. You’re getting a lot of stories about my past and where I want to be in my love life. But they’re also a bop. I feel like I finally found a great balance between being as real as possible within my music and making a hit song.”

Check out the People feature here.

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

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Kid Cudi Reveals He’s Open To Working With Lil Nas X: ‘I’ll Work W U And Frolic In Rose Gardens’

by
Getty Image

On Wednesday afternoon, Lil Nas X revealed the tracklist for his upcoming debut album, Montero. The 15-track album will include features from Jack Harlow, Doja Cat, Elton John, Megan Thee Stallion, and Miley Cyrus. Many fans shared their excitement for the upcoming collaborations, but there we others that were curious about the lack of Black male artists on the album as one noted about the singer’s upcoming project. “Lil Nas X’s album has no black male guest lol,” they wrote on Twitter. “Just women & white men. No agenda tho.” Lil Nas replied, “maybe a lot of them just don’t wanna work with me.”

Kid Cudi caught wind of Lil Nas’ response and made it very clear that he would love to work with the singer at any point in the future. “N**** ill work w u and frolic in rose gardens w u singin about my pain,” Cudi wrote in reply to Lil Nas. The singer happily accepted the offer and in a later tweet he wrote, “u heard it here first everybody. kid cudi x lil nas for montero deluxe.” Cudi confirmed the collaboration would happen in a tweet of his own that read, “Im there. Say less,” and added, “lets have our boys @takeadaytrip set it up!”

You can view the interaction between the two artists above.

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

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Lil Nas X Unveils His ‘Montero’ Tracklist Featuring Doja Cat, Megan Thee Stallion, And Elton John

by
Getty Image

Slowly but surely, Lil Nas X has been unveiling more info about his upcoming album Montero. He revealed last week that the album is currently set for a September 17 release, and not long after that, she shared the cover art. The rapper teased yesterday that that tracklist would arrive today, and this morning, he tweeted, “posting tracklist in a little bit. ahhh my balls are tingling and trembling. i’m so excited.”

Now, the tracklist has arrived, and of course, it includes recent singles “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” “Sun Goes Down,” and the Jack Harlow collaboration “Industry Baby.” Beyond that, though, it will also include features from Doja Cat, Elton John, Megan Thee Stallion, and Miley Cyrus. All in all, the project spans 15 tracks and runs for about 43 minutes.

Check out the Montero tracklist below.

1. “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)”
2. “Dead Right Now”
3. “Industry Baby” Feat. Jack Harlow
4. “That’s What I Want”
5. “The Art Of Realization”
6. “Scoop” Feat. Doja Cat
7. “One Of Me” Feat. Elton John
8. “Lost In The Citadel”
9. “Dolla Sign Slime” Feat. Megan Thee Stallion
10. “Tales Of Dominica”
11. “Sun Goes Down”
12. “Void”
13. “Don’t Want It”
14. “Life After Salem”
15. “Am I Dreaming” Feat. Miley Cyrus

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

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Lil Nas X Shares A Fascinating Visual Detail About His ‘Montero’ Album Art That Can’t Be Unseen

by
YouTube

Adding a new layer to the Montero multiverse, Lil Nas X shared some majestic album art for his forthcoming album earlier today. Depicting the rapper fully in the nude, his back arched and skin glistening, the Lisa Frank-looking design for Montero represents “a continuous loop, to represent the circle of life,” according to Nas’ follow-up tweet. Indeed, when the art is duplicated and stacked vertically, the edges of the art line up to make a continuous image.

Then, the “Industry Baby” rapper laid out some more visual inspirations for Montero, posting images of SpongeBob SquarePants and John Stephens’ Genesis II. The tracklist, he said, would arrive tomorrow.

Just a few days out from Montero‘s release, Lil Nas X has definitely been making the most of his promotional cycle, posting his (joking) take on Drake’s Certified Lover Boy emoji art and making nice with Tony Hawk on TikTok.

“Growing up in the Atlanta area, I [saw] a lot of microaggressions towards homosexuality,” Nas recently told Out Magazine in a cover story about growing up in the South and his coming out process. “Little things like going into an IHOP and hearing one of your family members say ‘look at those faggots’ to two people eating or even just a small [statement like] ‘boys don’t cry.’ Little sh*t like living in the hood, not being super into sports, and then having to go outside and pretend that I was. [I remember] pushing that part of myself in more and more, almost convincing myself that it’s not even actually there,” he added.

Meanwhile, he recently wrote of Montero, “creating this album has been therapy for me. i’ve learned to let go of trying to control people’s perception of who i am, what i can do, and where i will be. i’ve realized the only opinion of me that really matters is my own.”

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