Lil Nas X revealed his debut album, Montero, will soon be released. After the massive success of his breakout hit “Old Town Road” in 2019, the 22-year-old musician went on to release an EP title 7—featuring Cardi B and the Billy Ray Cyrus-assisted remix of the aforementioned single—and garner a nomination for Album of the Year at the 2020 Grammy Awards.
With a Marvel-inspired trailer, the pop star formally announced his upcoming LP on social media.
“Montero the debut album coming soon,” he tweeted in all-caps. The under one minute clip is a journey through Lil Nas X’s short yet impactful music career.
The musician recently performed the title track at the 2021 BET Awards. In true headlining fashion, he sparked both backlash and support after an energetic, Egyptian-inspired performance ended with a kiss between him and one of his male dancers.
He later admitted being nervous about performing the song in front of his “straight peers” on such a large stage.
“It took me a lot of time to mentally prepare for this performance,” he wrote on Twitter. “while on stage i was trembling knowing that I was performing something like that in front of my straight peers. even during the performance, I was having a hard time calming my nerves. thank you guys for the love.”
One celebrity supportive of Lil Nas X’s performance was Diddy, who shared his appreciation on social media.
“Lil Nas X did that!! Be fearless!!!” he tweeted with handclap emojis.
Upon its debut, the official visual for “Montero” also caused controversy. In the video, he gives a person costumed as the devil a steamy lap dance. As VIBE previously reported, Lil Nas X spoke with comedians Desus and Mero on the negative feedback.
“I really just wanted to corrupt the youth… I’m just kidding!” he said jokingly.
“What’s the real reason that everyone’s still angry? What’s the actual reason? Even when I was planning the video, I was like, ‘Oh this is definitely gonna hit Fox News’. I definitely didn’t expect the outrage as much as it was at all, especially governors tweeting me.”
Watch the “Montero” album trailer below: