If Lil Nas X has taught us anything in the last year, it's that at the young age of 22, he has already mastered the concept of the album rollout.
From dropping the lead single "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)" and sexually-Satan-themed visuals to go with it or grabbing rising star Jack Harlow to assist with the second single "Industry Baby" and appear in that record's all-pink-prison video, to more *abstract* ideas, like an entire pregnancy saga leading up to the birth of Baby Montero and the release of Montero itself, Lil Nas X has shown that he knows how to grab attention and keep that attention over a sustained period of time.
Last night, to accompany Montero's release, Lil Nas also debuted The Montero Show on YouTube.
The Montero Show, designed to look and feel like a mid-2000s midday talk show, was hosted by Lil Nas X playing the Oprah-like figure Montero, and was graced with a guest appearance from a very-pregnant "Old Town Road boy" who quickly corrects the host that he is Lil Nas X.
The show begins with Montero asking Lil Nas X about working with Billy Ray Cyrus to which the rapper answered that it's been three years since "Old Town Road" and that there have to be new questions to ask. Continuing on to inform Montero that he had a crazy year, capped off by the fact that he is "literally f**king pregnant."
Montero and Lil Nas X continue on with Lil Nas ducking "Old Town Road" questions and the pair going through all of the music videos incorporated with the new album. Just as Lil Nas begins to announce the premiere of a new video for "That's What I Want" however, his water breaks and the rapper seamlessly transitions his day-time TV appearance into the birth of Baby Montero and the official Montero release.
To say Lil Nas X went all out for this album rollout would be an understatement. Between so many moving parts and their near-flawless integration with each other, it is clear to see the immense amount of planning and execution that went into rolling this project out to the masses. Featuring a handful of already-huge records, Montero was already set to do numbers but with the entire rollout and Lil Nas X impressive weekend at the VMAs and Met Gala, it seems that the entire internet had eyes out for this project and now it's here.
Go stream Montero and let us know what you think of the album and its rollout in the comments.
