Lil Nas X, Noted Power Bottom, Announces Album Release, Teases Song

Lil Nas X is here to give you narrative.

After releasing his much discussed video for "Industry Baby," Lil Nas X is ready to drop his entire album. In a new teaser trailer, where he refers to himself as a power bottom, the star has announced that his debut album, Montero, will release on September 17.

"Creating this album has been therapy for me," the star wrote to Twitter when sharing the trailer. "I've learned to let go of trying to control people's perception of who I am, what I can do, and where I will be. I've realized the only opinion of me that really matters is my own."

The clip picks up after the events of "Industry Baby." The rapper and singer is playing the long game, having pulled a through line from the roll out of his "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)" track through to this moment. During that initial drop he released a selection of Satan Sneakers that got him sued by Nike. He parodied the suit, mocking up his teaser for "Industry Baby" as a court date in that trial. In the following video, he was in jail at Montero State Prison where he staged a breakout after dropping the soap in the showers. The new teaser picks up after the escape.

"Breaking news, power bottom 'rapper' Lil Nas X and his Caucasian friend led a prison escape this morning," Nas X said, playing the role of Montero News Network anchor. The friend was "Industry Baby" collaborator Jack Harlow. "This comes just months after the talentless homosexual was sentenced to five years in prison. Investigators say that anybody that comes into contact with the power bottom should contact authorities. Immediately."

What follows is Nas X riding on some old town road while a previously unheard song plays on the radio. "Need a boy who can cuddle with me all night," he sings on what is presumed to be his next single. "Keep me warm, love me long, give me sunlight. Tell me lies, we can argue, we can fight, yeah we did it before but we'll do it tonight."

As Tre'vell Anderson wrote in our cover story about Lil Nas X, "Montero, the album, promises to document what Freshwater author Akwaeke Emezi calls 'the unfolding of a self,' the process by which Nas continues to glow up into a living affirmation for countless Black queer artists claiming space in industries from which we've been erased and excluded, and Black LGBTQ+ people and beyond in communities that don't yet love us."

"I named the album after myself because there are a lot of things I've been going through and dealing with and wanting to say," Nas X said. "I wanted to let sides of myself show that I've been afraid of people seeing for so long."

His first teaser video for the album was based off of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Instead, he collaged the many personas he's taken on as Lil Nas X into the Montero Cinematic Universe.

A week before he releases his the album he will perform at the MTV Video Music Awards. He's nominated for five awards and while he is likely to perform "Industry Baby," one could hope he would also perform new music.

RELATED | Cover Star Lil Nas X's Road to Becoming Montero