Lil Nas X “Montero” album review

Lil Nas X released his highly anticipated debut album “Montero” on Sept. 17, following the wild success of his debut single “Old Town Road” in 2019.

There has been a buzz surrounding this album since March of this year, when there was controversy surrounding the music video for the lead single of the album, “Montero (Call Me By Your Name).”

Some Christians were not happy with the depiction of Satan within the video, and tried to get the music video banned. 

In July, with the release of the second single for the album, “Industry Baby,” Lil Nas X found himself trending once again for scenes within the music video, specifically the naked shower scene.

Through all of this, Lil Nas X has gained a large fan base for his daring content in his videos. Seeing a young Black gay man being authentically himself is something that has drawn many in, myself included.

Rap is not a genre that normally is in any of my playlists; however, with this album, my opinion of rap has changed. All the songs were not what I expected, yet everything I needed to hear. 

Each song sounds different from the others on the album, while still working together. 

The best part of the album were the instrumentals. “Industry Baby” was the best song of the album by far. The horns that start the song (and continued throughout) transported me back to the days of watching high school marching band performances. 

Mixing country, rap, and rock is something that I never expected to hear together in one album, but it works well. The variety of genres used were groundbreaking, and the blend of all three was immaculate. 

The country roots of Lil Nas X were beneficial in helping all the songs be amazingly unique. 

The features on this album were out-of-this-world spectacular. The best feature was on “Dolla Sign Slime,” which featured Megan Thee Stallion. This song was an absolute hit, and Megan’s verse really took the song to a whole new level — I would not be surprised if we see a TikTok trend using that audio soon. 

The album was enjoyable, but there was an issue with the lack of consistent lyricism. Some songs had amazing lyrics and verses, but others had questionable and dull lyrics. Also, some songs felt way too short — right as the songs were building up, they would end leaving me wanting more. 

My favorite songs came from the end of the album. “Void,” “Life After Salem,” and “Am I Dreaming” featuring Miley Cyrus all took me by surprise. The songs were deep and the lyrics resonated well.

The balance of having these more mellow, sad songs really helped give the album some depth, balancing out the fun songs that were at the beginning of the album. Overall, this made for a complex album.

For being a debut album, this is a very solid piece of work. The issues of basic lyrics can easily be worked on. I cannot wait to see more from Lil Nas X, and I hope that he gets the recognition that he deserves soon.