All Features and Guest Appearances on Lil Nas X’s ‘Montero’ Album
After a hot streak of singles and an EP, Lil Nas X has finally released a full-length album. The “Industry Baby” singer has enjoyed much industry success to date with seven singles appearing in the Billboard Hot 100, one of which has the longest-running No. 1 streak in history. Half of his songs have been collaborations with other artists, so who will be joining him on the album?
Making a deal with the devil
The first single off the album, “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)”, led to some interesting sources of publicity. The video featured Lil Nas X giving a lap dance to the devil. This, unsurprisingly, sparked some backlash from religious groups and parents of younger children who had grown accustomed to the more family-friendly content on the rapper’s EP but sparked some ideas at MSCHF.
In keeping with the theme of the video, the company worked with Lil Nas X to make “Satan shoes”, customized Nike Air Max 97s with a drop of human blood in each pair. Predictably, only 666 pairs of shoes were made and they all sold out in under a minute. BBC News reported Nike sued MSCHF for copyright infringement. The Nike logo is visible on the finished product and the shoe juggernaut wanted to avoid “an erroneous association between MSCHF’s products and Nike.”
Jailbreak with Jack Harlow
Lil Nas X decided to make light of the situation in his next music video. “Industry Baby” begins with Lil Nas X at a fictional trial for the Satan shoes, where he is sentenced to five years in the appropriately-named Montero State Prison. In what could be viewed as a dig at critics of his more mature content, the video contains a censored nude dance scene in the prison showers. The rapper apparently has no intention of quietly serving his sentence, as the video ends with him escaping with collaborator Jack Harlow.
Lil Nas X’s star-studded guest list
Montero dropped September 17th, and Pitchfork shared a tracklist that shows while we’ve only seen one collaboration released in the last year, there are a few more in store. The album was announced with pregnancy photos and a baby registry where each song links to a different relevant charity. Lil Nas X is joined on the album by rappers Megan Thee Stallion and Doja Cat, who he calls “one of my biggest inspirations.”
Elton John is also a guest on the album for “One of Me”. The music icon has a high opinion of Lil Nas X, having called him “a hero of mine” at the iHeartRadio music awards earlier this year.
Lil Nas X shares a spot with Miley Cyrus to close out the record. After working with her father on the remix of “Old Town Road” and Miley on this album, it is not lost on Lil Nas X that he’s started a pattern. There is more musical talent in the Cyrus family, so the rapper could go back to the well for future collaborations.
Blink and you’ll miss them
The featured artists aren’t the only celebrities Lil Nas X has worked with on the album sound and visuals. Kanye West co-produced the “Industry Baby” single, and Arrow fans may have recognized one of the prison guards as actor Colton Haynes. Distractify reports that some watchers thought they also saw Jason Momoa, but it was instead Phil Brandt, a Momoa look-alike.
In a more recent release, Billy Porter of Pose fame makes an appearance in the music video for “That’s What I Want”. Porter plays the part of a priest who hands Lil Nas X a guitar just before the video ends. Like Porter, Lil Nas X has been blazing trails as his career grows and fans are excited to see what he releases next.
