After announcing last week that his debut album will be dropping on September 17, Lil Nas X yesterday unveiled its cover art.
It features the rapper naked, floating against a trippy, psychedelic background that features clouds, waterfalls, ancient Greek-style buildings, wildlife and lush nature. Oh, and his body is wrapped by a circular rainbow.
The image quickly racked up over a million likes on his Instagram and 225k likes on Twitter. His fans were quick to praise it and analyze the details, with some realizing the silhouette of his floating figure had featured in recent videos.
finally this silhouette makes sense 🤯 pic.twitter.com/Ehtz1bQEa0
— wil (@WiLCOPE4) August 31, 2021
Me flying out of chromatica to planet montero pic.twitter.com/7BBomNBCEk
— EOIN (´･_･`) (@hoeoinita) August 31, 2021
— jeromanoff⧗ (@jeromanoff) August 31, 2021
Lil Nas X always UNDERSTOOD the assignment pic.twitter.com/ieIOQz9uTt
— Cake (@JKXYXCX) August 31, 2021
— Chris Jewson 🦦 (@chrisjewson_) August 31, 2021
Even Elton John felt moved to applaud.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
— Elton John (@eltonofficial) August 30, 2021
In a later tweet, Lil Nas X posted a tweet crediting the artist that inspired the cover. It was influenced by the Biblical work, ‘(Genesis II)’ by John Stephens… a fact that’s sure to cause further upset the evangelicals who have already decided the rapper is an instrument of Satan.
INSPIRATION BEHIND
“MONTERO” 🦋💕
ALBUM ART:ARTISTS: John Stephens
ART: (Genesis II)“Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work” pic.twitter.com/0Ba9SJ6m2a
— MONTERO 🦋 (@LilNasX) August 31, 2021
Oh, and there’s a little bit of Spongebob in there, too.
inspiration pic.twitter.com/eWJSSGxhV0
— MONTERO 🦋 (@LilNasX) August 31, 2021
Lil Nas X says he’ll be revealing the album’s tracklist today.
UPDATE
The Montero tracklisting went online shortly after we published our story. Check out the video below.
“MONTERO” 🦋💕
TRACKLIST 💿
ALBUM OUT
SEP. 17. 2021 pic.twitter.com/YwkOvuDJlH— MONTERO 🦋 (@LilNasX) September 1, 2021
Related: Lil Nas X officially dating: “I think this is the one. I can’t explain it.”
Kangol2
It’s been wonderful to watch Lil Nas X’s career take off. His streams keep growing too. The cover looks like an NFT, which it’ll probably become at some point, worth a premium.