You’ve probably heard Lil Nas X's anticipated new single, "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)" in his LogiTech ads, but the pop star finally released the offering on Friday (March 26) and it arrived with a blockbuster music video with some major significance for the star.
First up, the new track, which includes part of his real name (Montero Lamar Hill), dropped in conjunction with a wild, digital-heavy music video, letting viewers see him play Adam in a new version of the Garden of Eden, an angel, as well as a demon, who ends up offering Satan a lap dance and killing him at the end of the clip. The three-minute visual, which Nas co-directed with Tanu Muino, is a bit of sensory overload, but an official synopsis arrived with the release and it details the biblical and ancient Greek affiliation.
"The story opens in a lush Garden of Eden where Nas first introduces the theme of duality, which is displayed throughout the video. He plays the role of Adam as well as the snake that tempts him into giving in to the carnal desires he was forbidden to explore, and we see the two merge and become one," the synopsis read. "Following a nod to Plato's Symposium displayed on the tree of life, a shackled up Nas finds himself at his execution day in the Colosseum, where he is surrounded by and receiving judgment from various versions of himself. Once he has been executed, he ascends to heaven only to be pulled down to hell where he harnesses his sexuality to seduce the devil and strip him of his power as an evil force — and dismantling the throne of judgment and punishment that has kept many of us from embracing our true selves out of fear."
In addition to its release, Nas penned an open letter to his younger self, admitting that the track "will open doors for many other queer people to simply exist." "Dear 14 year old montero," he wrote. "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."
"You see this is very scary for me," Lil Nas X continued. "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."
Photo: YouTube/LilNasXVEVO