Izzy Rivera
Staff Writer
irivera1@umassd.edu
Lil Nas X has released a music video for his song “Montero (Call me by your Name) on March 26th, 2021 and it has caused all different types of headlines. The music video shows him in different historical, religious, and mythological settings with his own provocative twist, and reviews go from praise to slander. Lil Nas represents as a gay man, and one part of this music video is him going up to heaven being accepted by an angle but he then grabs onto a dancing pole and slides all the way down to hell, dancing his way along.
He is seen giving a lap dance to the Devil, kissing the snake from the Garden of Eden, and being banished from Heaven. When interviewed about the music video by TIME, Lil Nas states “I feel like we’ve come to a time in music where everything is nice and nothing is really cutting edge or starting conversations any more, I want to be part of a conversation that actually applies to my situation and so many people that I know.” To be more specific, Lil Nas hopes the video will open up a conversation about the hatred towards LGBTQ youth, especially in Christain faith since the music video tells a story of sin, banishment, and then redemption.
Of course depending on which groups you ask this music video will be highly praised or highly remorsed, and it can be seen that he was hoping a conversation could be had to understand why people can’t meet in the middle. It can be seen in this music video Lil Nas has become immensely more comfortable with who he is and what he is trying to do, especially the difference from his debut with “Old Town Road”. He was at the time not out to the public and just hitting the music scene, and now he is growing into himself and not caring what the world thinks so he can spread awareness and gain respect for the LGBTQ commmunmity.
There is also controversy of if he copied a small indie artists music video with his pole scene. He claims to have gotten inspiration from several sources and one included FKA twigs music video “Cellophane”, which the artist can be seen reaching up to a celestial being before descending down upon a pole into a different plane. The director of this music video was upset by the strong similarity but does not put the blame on Lil Nas himself, since ultimately the record labels are the ones raking in the money and using the artists for their talent.
Overall, it can be seen his music video made big headlines from LGBTQ aspects, religious aspects, and even plagiarism, but in the end it can be assumed that Lil Nas just wanted to raise awareness and show some representation for youth in the LGBTQ community. To say that they are not alone, there are others like themselves, and everyone is worthy of being loved and cared for. He used his creative platform and liberties to support what he holds dear.
Time Article: https://time.com/5950756/lil-nas-x-montero-interview/