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Lil Nas X Announces Release Date for Debut Album: What We Know So Far

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at FSU chapter.

Fans have long awaited an album from Lil Nas X. Ever since he released his first single, “Old Town Road,” in 2019, the world has wondered when his first album would be out. Now it’s official, Sep. 17 Montero will finally be released for everyone to hear. With only weeks until one of rap’s newest stars’ albums is out, here’s what we know so far.

Lil Nas X announced the release date with a video of him hosting a fake news channel. In the video, we hear a snippet of what is believed to be a track from the album called “That’s What I Want.” The artist also jokingly calls himself a “power bottom” when playing the role of a news reporter. Along with announcing the release date, Lil Nas X also released the official tracklist for the album. It reveals that the album will include 15 songs, including “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” “Sun Goes Down” and “Industry Baby.” These three songs have already been released as singles, along with their respective music videos. The last on that list, “Industry Baby,” is the newest of the three and features Jack Harlow.

The tracklist also boasts quite a few other major collaborations with long-standing people in the music industry, along with some new up-and-coming artists. “Scoop” will feature Doja Cat, “One of Me” will feature Elton John, “Dollar Sign Slime” will feature Megan Thee Stallion and finally, “Am I Dreaming” will feature Miley Cyrus.

More recently, Lil Nas X has released pregnancy photos to bring more attention to his baby, the album “Montero.” In an interview with People, he reveals that he got the idea to do a fake pregnancy photoshoot after hearing Megan Thee Stallion’s verse in “Dollar Sign Slime.” When asked if the album would be considered an immaculate conception, he replied, “I guess I am the father as well as the mother, but I guess the producers who worked on it are like dads too. Or maybe uncles.”

Lil Nas X’s sense of humor doesn’t end with the over-the-top pregnancy photoshoot: he also revealed the album cover. It features him front and center floating in the air completely nude, surrounded by vibrant butterflies, trees, flowers and a building with iconic Roman-style pillars. The inspiration comes from John Stevens’s Genesis II, Lil Nas X revealed in a tweet. He also referred to a Spongebob meme where Spongebob is floating in the sky, similarly to Lil Nas X, with earbuds in his ears as “inspiration” in another tweet.

He said in his announcement post that “creating this album has been therapy for me.” Despite the joking nature of the pregnancy photoshoot, this album is truly his baby. For as long as fans have been waiting for and anticipating the release of this album, Lil Nas X has seemingly put his heart and soul into every little detail of Montero.

On Sep. 17, the whole world will be able to hear what other stories Lil Nas X has to tell. Is the world prepared for what the “power bottom” rapper has to say? Only time will tell.

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Olivia is an English: Editing, Writing, and Media major at Florida State University. If there isn't a hockey game on, she can be found listening to music or watching Netflix with her friends.