LIL NAS… SEX!
Lil Nas X reveals the inspiration for his numberone hit Montero (Call Me By Your Name) and the man who made him want “to ride it!”
Nas reveals the inspiration for his number-one hit Montero (Call Me By Your Name) and the man who made him want “to ride it!”
Let’s recap the Lil Nas X story so far. Born Montero Hill in Atlanta, Georgia he released “country rap” tune Old Town Road at the end of 2018 and by the end of 2019 it had become the longest running #1 hit of all time in the US (19 weeks). He come out on stage at Glastonbury in the UK and TIME briskly named him one of the year’s 25 Most Influential People.
Wearing a fuchsia Versace suit with a pink harness he picked up two Grammy awards, released a few more hits, and spent his 2020 modelling for Rihanna’s Fenty brand, penning a children’s book, C Is For Country and writing tracks for his debut album, Montero.
The album’s lead single, Montero (Call Me By Your Name), has been another global numberone hit is probably the gayest record of the decade, celebrating his sexuality and the joys of gay sex. The video if a futuristic, risqué, biblical epic that generated plenty of controversy and over views 118 million views on YouTube in just three weeks.
Having turned 22 in April 2021, he opened up to genius.com in a video interview, revealing the sexy backstory behind Montero (Call Me By Your Name) and what it means to him.
“It’s the most real and most vulnerable I’ve ever been in a song… which is why it’s super important for me.
“It was pretty magical how it came about. I had just got an Airbnb at the start of covid so I could start working on my album. I’d started recording songs… and this night in summer where I was taking a break I go visit this guy who’s an artist. He’s like, ‘Come visit in my house…’ and I was like, ‘Okay!’ I get there and boom! I like this guy a lot! The next day I started writing the song,” Nas says in the interview.
The song also draws on the 2017 movie, Call Me By Your Name.
“That was one of the first gay films I had watched. I thought the theme was so dope – calling somebody by your own name as lovers and trying to keep it between you two,” says Nas. “That movie, it takes you to another world, the way everything is shot, the way the dialogue goes on. Everything about it is so artsy and I was like, ‘Oh, this is cool as fuck!’”
The song is unapologetically lusty, and Nas explains what some of the lyrics mean.
“I wanna be that drug and I wanna feel like your ass in Hawaii!” is pretty self-explanatory: “Let’s go on a vacation, let me feel your ass!” [Laughs]. “You buying this drug,” is like I wanna be that drug.
What about the line: “I want that jetlag from fuckin’ and flyin’ / Shoot a child in your mouth while I’m ridin’”?
“When I said that in the studio everybody just kinda looked back at me and it was a funny moment,” Nas reveals. “It’s like the same as when I put, ‘I might bottom on the low but I top shot’ [in his song Holiday]. Let’s normalise having these lines about fucking in songs… I feel like that’s important for representation in general and this is going to open doors.
“I didn’t include the lines, ‘Fuck it, let’s ride!’ in the official song but I put them in the video. Once you watch the video you’re like, ‘Okay, fuck it! Let’s get with it!’”
I go visit this guy… I get there and boom! I like this guy a lot! The next day I started writing the song.