Lil Nas X has released his first new music of 2021. The anticipated single "MONTERO (Call Me by Your Name)" lands alongside a video you can watch below.
The accompanying visuals, co-directed by Lil Nas X and Tanu Muino, find the "Old Town Road" hitmaker playing characters in the Garden of Eden, the fires of Hell and more in telling, as a statement outlines, "his own personal story of temptation, judgment and standing in the full power of his sexuality."
Of course, the song's title is an homage to Luca Guadagnino's 2017 coming-of-age film of the same name and "begs the question: do you truly love your neighbor as yourself, enough to call them by your own name?"
Alongside the single's arrival, Lil Nas X shared a letter written to his 14-year-old self, which reads, "I wrote a song with our name in it. It's about a guy I met last summer. I know we promised to never come out publicly, I know we promised to never be 'that' type of gay person, I know we promised to die with the secret, but this will open doors for many other queer people to simply exist. You see this is very scary for me, people will be angry, they will say I'm pushing an agenda. But the truth is, I am. The agenda to make people stay the f--k out of other people's lives and stop dictating who they should be. Sending you love from the future."
"MONTERO (Call Me by Your Name)" follows last year's "Holiday."
The accompanying visuals, co-directed by Lil Nas X and Tanu Muino, find the "Old Town Road" hitmaker playing characters in the Garden of Eden, the fires of Hell and more in telling, as a statement outlines, "his own personal story of temptation, judgment and standing in the full power of his sexuality."
Of course, the song's title is an homage to Luca Guadagnino's 2017 coming-of-age film of the same name and "begs the question: do you truly love your neighbor as yourself, enough to call them by your own name?"
Alongside the single's arrival, Lil Nas X shared a letter written to his 14-year-old self, which reads, "I wrote a song with our name in it. It's about a guy I met last summer. I know we promised to never come out publicly, I know we promised to never be 'that' type of gay person, I know we promised to die with the secret, but this will open doors for many other queer people to simply exist. You see this is very scary for me, people will be angry, they will say I'm pushing an agenda. But the truth is, I am. The agenda to make people stay the f--k out of other people's lives and stop dictating who they should be. Sending you love from the future."
"MONTERO (Call Me by Your Name)" follows last year's "Holiday."
