On Wednesday (August 25), Lil Nas X dropped a trailer for his highly anticipated debut album Montero, which will be out September 17.
The trailer, which immediately follows the events of his visual for “Industry Baby,” begins with a Montero News Network (MNN) broadcast of a news anchor, played by Lil Nas X himself. “Breaking news! Power bottom ‘rapper’ Lil Nas X and his Caucasian friend led a prison escape this morning,” he reports. “This comes just months after the talentless homosexual was sentenced to five years in prison. Investigators say that anybody that comes into contact with the power bottom should contact authorities. Immediately.”
During the broadcast, we see Lil Nas X, still in his pink prison jumpsuit, riding alone in a mint green retro Cadillac through the desert. He encounters a payphone with a cloudy mist of a limp figure floating above, and as he dials numbers in the phone, he falls under into a dark void as a crystalized figure in different colors.
A new upbeat, acoustic track from his album is also featured in the trailer, but a title has not been revealed yet. “I want someone to love me, I need someone that needs me,” he sings. “‘Cause it don’t feel right when it’s late at night / It’s just me and my dreams / So I want someone to love / That’s what I fuckin’ want.”
On social media, Lil Nas X revealed working on the album was his form of healing and journey to self-confidence. “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,” he tweeted. “I’ve realized the only opinion of me that really matters is my own.”
Earlier this week on Monday (August 23), Lil Nas X joked about “officially working at Taco Bell again,” being named chief impact officer at the fast-food chain, where he will help publicize his upcoming album. Additionally, Lil Nas X will collaborate with the Taco Bell Foundation to recognize and reward young creative talent in those pursuing higher education via the Live Más Scholarship. Before his rise to fame, Lil Nas X previously worked for the chain as a teenager and even briefly depicts his time there in the music video of “Sun Goes Down.”
A tracklist for the album is yet to be released, but “Industry Baby,” “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” and “Sun Goes Down” are definitely expected to be added. His most recent single “Industry Baby” debuted No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, while “Call Me By Your Name” charted No. 1 in both Hot 100 and several other countries, even being certified platinum by the RIAA in April 2021.
