Montero: The Place You Want To Be
Artists from all around the world are starting to create content due to the break received from Covid-19. Many of them decided to step back and take a well deserved break, while others decided to take the opportunity to push the boundaries and reevaluate what they want to produce. For Lil Nas x, it was to showcase his identity, be proud of who he is and produce for his audience. Not seen before in major pop music from one of the top rating artists of this generation, we have a pro-sex music video, for gay people.
In his latest music video Montero (Call Me By Your Name), Lil Nas x explores the juxtaposition between christianity and gay liberation by exploring various references towards the story of god and the openness of being a gay male. As a black male rapper/pop star, this music video is record breaking for more equal content that include queer people and BPOC, without the incentive towards primarily making money from the LGBTQ+ community. In the video Lil Nas x lap dances the devil which has called Satan by many christians, went up to heaven and descended down to hell via strip pole and finally, taking over the role of the devil. Let it be known that there is much controversy against Lil Nas x and his video, but as someone who was brought up and often inspired by people like Nicki Minaj, it is something he himself is unafraid of, which can be seen by his twitter interactions with haters and lovers of the video.
In terms of fashion, Lil Nas x has also shown his versatility in his most recent music video. Throughout most of the video, Lil Nas x plays many if not all the characters shown. His adaptability with gender and the way he moves around fashion is unprecedented for someone relatively new in the industry. With his budget from the successes of his previous songs like Old Town Road featuring Billy Rae Cyrus, you can see clearly that he has spent money and a lot of time, which makes sense as to why we never received the music video until a year after his teaser announcement.
Examples of this is his judgement outfits when he is attesting to a judgement/court case for his life where he wears a large wig and fans himself with expensive victorian influenced clothing, his beginning outfit in the garden of Eden as well as his outfit to hell, with knee high heels and a mixture of wigs.
This music idea might be the foundation of the development into videos and marketing that isn’t just for straight people. The outpour support Lil Nas X has received from Montero is overwhelming, and has infiltrated the industry as well as social media, with people still discussing the video weeks after its arrival.