Lil Nas X weaves an impressively detailed fantasy world with “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” but the meaningful story behind the song is so much more grounded in reality.
On Friday (March 26), the rapper and pop star dropped his latest single along with a provocative music video. He also shared a powerful message with it on Twitter: a note to his 14-year-old younger self about the power of LGBTQ+ representation and visibility.
“I wrote a song with our name in it. It’s about a guy I met last summer. I know we promised to never come out publicly, I know we promised to never be ‘that’ type of gay person, I know we promised to die with the secret, but this will open doors for many other queer people to simply exist,” he wrote.
“You see this is very scary for me, people will be angry, they will say I’m pushing an agenda. But the truth is, I am. The agenda to make people stay the fuck out of other people’s lives and stop dictating who they should be. Sending you love from the future,” he concluded.
Read his message, below:
The “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” video with a voiceover, with Lil Nas X speaking about the imaginary land of Montero, named after his birth name (Montero Lamar Hill). “In life, we hide the parts of ourselves we don’t want the world to see,” he tells viewers. “We lock them away. We tell them, ‘No.’ We banish them. But here, we don’t.”
The fantastical clip sees the artist as Adam in the Garden of Eve, making out with an alien version of himself; stoning himself as Marie Antoinette in the 18th century; and even giving a lap dance to Satan. In less than twelve hours after its release, the cinematic music video had amassed over 1.5 million views.
See reactions from celebrity friends and fans, below.