Lil Nas X is still on everyone’s lips following the release of his controversial new single and visual ‘Montero (Call Me By Your Name‘ and the equally controversial ‘Satan Shoe’ release.
Getting back to the song, the rap-singer is breaking down the lyrics and meaning behind the song to give listeners more context, and back story about the guy who inspired the same-sex love story/song.
He broke it all down with Genius and explained why the song is so important to him and to music in general.
The rapper said he began writing the song at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, when he rented out an Airbnb to begin working on his upcoming album. In the process of writing and recording, Lil Nas X says, he was invited to visit a friend’s new house when he realized, “‘Oh I like this guy a lot,’ and I started writing the song the next day.”
The opening lines of the song, he said, track the literal interaction he had with the guy, from being called up, his wish to “catch you throwing smiles in my face,” and seeing his friend partying, doing drugs and drinking his time in quarantine away. “I can’t pretend I don’t see you doing this sh–, and I can’t pretend I don’t notice these things,” he said about his friend’s sexuality.
When it comes to the song’s title, Lil Nas X fully acknowledges that he was deeply influenced by the 2017 film of the same name and wanted to create an anthem where he fully embraced his sexuality. “That was one of the first gay films that I had watched, and I thought the theme was so dope of calling somebody by your own name,” he said. “The way everything is shot, the way the dialogue goes on, the way the background sounds are used, everything about it is so artsy.”
As for some of the song’s more openly sexual lyrics, the rapper says that was fully intentional. The line “shoot a child in yo’ mouth while I’m ridin’,” he said, was intended to be jarring, while also helping break a stigma around lyrics focused on queer lust. “I was like, ‘It’s about time I say something out of pocket in a song,'” he said, chuckling. “Let’s normalize having these f—ing lines in songs, the same way somebody might talk about f—ing a girl or f—ing a guy.”
He continued, saying that he wants to continue making content to help bring queer narratives forward into mainstream music. “I feel like that’s really important for representation in general,” he said. “And this is gonna open more doors for one day when someone’s like, ‘Oh, this person said that, and I didn’t even think about it.'”
Overall, Lil Nas X is proud of how the song turned out — even if it is causing controversy — because he wants to show the industry that this kind of queer narrative can exist in popular music. “It has so many key points, even surrounding the song … which is why it’s going to be super important for me, and for so many other people,” he said.
via Billboard
Check out the video below.
He also took to Twitter this week of course to continue clapping back at his critics, but he pulled the ultimate troll move when he teased that he was lining up a ‘Montero’ remix that will feature Kirk Franklin.
i’m gonna put kirk franklin on the call me by your name remix to even it out u guys
— nope 🏹 (@LilNasX) March 29, 2021
Meanwhile, the song has surprassed over 55 million views on YouTube since its release just over the weekend.
