Lil Nas X Says His ‘Montero’ Album Releases This Summer And Mocks The Backlash Against His New Video

After over a month of teasing his new song “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” Lil Nas X shared the video today — and it sure is something. A colorful, fantastical video, the clip offers such mythological imagery as angels and hell, where Lil Nas X seduces the king demon, only to kill him and take his crown. While such visuals were exciting to some fans, there were plenty of critics who spoke out against the video — and Nas was more than up to the challenge of shooting down the backlash.

One outspoken commenter took issue with the devilish character that Nas seduces in the video, as well as Nas’ sartorial choices. “Basically he is riding the Devil,” the critic complained. “Explain how this visualization is supposed to be interpreted by the youth? Should all men dress androgynously and sleep with satin [sic]?” Nas, who quoted the disingenuous tweet, simply replied, “Yes.”

In a more sincere explanation, Nas shared a letter written to his 14-year-old self, revealing that releasing “Call Me By Your Name” was “very scary for me.” He acknowledged that “people will be angry” and that “they will say I’m pushing an agenda,” but admitted, “I am. The agenda is to make people stay the f*ck out of other people’s lives and stop dictating who they should be.”

After getting a few hours of sleep, he returned to once again troll his critics. “y’all love saying we going to hell but get upset when i actually go there lmao,” he joked, before revealing that the “Montero” video is just the beginning — his debut album, also named Montero “drops this summer.” Meanwhile, he has yet to respond to FKA Twigs fans who claim he ripped off her “Cellophane” video.

You can watch the video in question here.