Lil Nas X Announces New Album With Pregnancy Photos and the Internet Is Quickly Melting

It’s been a hot couple of weeks for music and it’s just going to keep getting hotter. First, there was Kanye West’s long-awaited Donda. Then came Drake’s Certified Lover Boy. Next up? Lil Nas X with Montero. Each album has generated its own insane buzz and deep debate among music fans. But Lil Nas X may have crossed a line with his album announcement.

In social media posts that immediately went viral, the rapper appeared in a series of images that featured him donning a crown of flowers and rubbing a bare, pregnant belly.

“SURPRISE!” he captioned the images. “I can’t believe i’m finally announcing this. My little bundle of joy “MONTERO” is due September 17, 2021.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by MONTERO (@lilnasx)

In a People magazine interview, he explained that he took inspiration from Megan Thee Stallion – with whom he collaborated on a track – for the maternity-themed reveal.

“I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is amazing,’” he said of hearing the song they made together, “So I immediately called my stylist. She was like, ‘Wow, this all comes together. Your album. Your baby.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, this is my baby, huh?’ As a joke, she was like, ‘Yeah, you should do a pregnancy shoot.'”

So he did. And then he further teased the album by reimagining the album art from Drake’s Certified Lover Boy, replacing the pregnant women emojis with pregnant men.

 

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A post shared by MONTERO (@lilnasx)

Haters came out in droves. A sampling of the comments:

“Dirty”

“Satan agenda is to normalize transgenders so the establishment is using celebrities to endorse this agenda SMH”

“Naaa ain’t no way this is acceptable”

“I’m with freedom of whatever, but at this point Lil Nas is fucking with the minds of kids. What are your thoughts, how do I explain this shit to my son?”

Never one to back down from discourse, Lil Nas X took to social media to respond to his critics.

niggas be like “you desperate for attention” then proceed to give it to me

— MONTERO (@LilNasX) September 2, 2021

Eventually, it got to be a little much, even for Lil Nas X, who should be used to backlash by now given previous reactions to his work (see: “Industry Baby”).

“Let me get offline, all of this negative energy is not good for the baby,” he tweeted.

let me get offline, all of this negative energy is not good for the baby

— MONTERO (@LilNasX) September 2, 2021

Ah, but he came back, armed with better arguments than his detractors.

the world funny asf man. the government taking away womens rights, ppl are losing their homes to hurricanes/tornadoes, etc. and y’all decided a pregnant pop rapper was the worse thing that’s happening right now.

— MONTERO (@LilNasX) September 4, 2021

And so we await the arrival of Montero. Will it kick Donda and Certified Lover Boy off the top of the charts? Time will tell…

Cover Photo: Rich Fury / Staff (Getty Images)

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