Lil Nas X

Montero Lamar Hill (born April 9, 1999), better known by his stage name Lil Nas X , is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He rose to prominence with the release of his 2018 country rap single "Old Town Road", which spent a then-record 19 weeks atop the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. Simultaneously, he came out as gay, the first artist to do so while having a number-one record.

Following the success of "Old Town Road", Lil Nas X signed with Columbia Records to release his debut extended play (EP) 7 (2019), which spawned two follow-up singles⁠: "Panini" and "Rodeo" (remixed featuring Nas); the former peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100, while the latter peaked at number 22. His debut studio album, Montero (2021), peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 and earned a nomination for Album of the Year at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards. It was supported by the Billboard Hot 100-number one singles "Montero (Call Me by Your Name)" and "Industry Baby" (featuring Jack Harlow), along with the top-ten single "Thats What I Want".

Known for his queer visuals and social media presence, Lil Nas X has received numerous accolades, including two Grammy Awards, five Billboard Music Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards, two BET Hip Hop Awards, two iHeartRadio Music Awards and two American Music Awards. "Old Town Road" ranks as the second highest-certified song in the United States—with 17 platinum certifications. He was placed on Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2020, and Time named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world the following year. He became the youngest honoree in the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2022 upon receiving the Hal David Starlight Award in May of that year.

Early life and education Montero Lamar Hill was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on April 9, 1999. He was named after the Mitsubishi Montero. His parents divorced when he was six, and he settled in the Bankhead Courts housing project in the Bankhead neighborhood of Atlanta with his mother, Tameka Hill, and grandmother. Three years later, he moved in with his father, a gospel singer,

He spent much of his teenage years alone, and turned to creating memes on the internet. but around 16 or 17 he came to accept it. He began playing trumpet in the fourth grade and was first chair by his junior high years, but quit out of fear of looking uncool.

Hill attended Lithia Springs High School, from which he graduated in 2017. He then enrolled at the University of West Georgia, where he majored in computer science, but later dropped out after one year to pursue a music career. During this time, he stayed with his sister and supported himself with jobs at Zaxby's restaurants and the Six Flags Over Georgia theme park. In September 2019, he revisited his high school to perform a surprise concert.

Career 2015–2017: Internet personality and Nasarati Hill said he began to isolate himself from "outside-of-class activities" during his teenage years. He spent large amounts of time online in hopes of building a following as an internet personality to promote his work, but he was unsure what to focus on creatively. In a Rolling Stone interview he stated, "I was doing Facebook comedy videos, then I moved over to Instagram, and then I hopped on Twitter ... where I really was a master. That was the first place where I could go viral." He also posted short-format comedy videos on Facebook and Vine. In 2017, this account gained attention for its flash fiction–style interactive "scenario threads" popularized on Twitter using dashboard app TweetDeck. However, in May 2020, Lil Nas X admitted, in a tweet, to being a fan of Minaj. He explained why he initially denied it, stating that if people knew he was a fan of hers, they would think he was gay: "People will assume if you had an entire fan page dedicated to nicki u are gay. and the rap/music industry ain't exactly built or accepting of gay men yet". On June 17, 2020, Minaj responded to Nas, tweeting "It was a bit of a sting when you denied being a barb, but I understand. Congratulations on building up your confidence to speak your truth". Lil Nas apologized to Minaj, saying he "felt so bad, hoping u wouldn't see my denial". The @NasMarai account was later mentioned in a New York Times Magazine article, which described Hill as having spent "every waking hour online, tweeting as @nasmaraj". It is also referenced in the music video for "Sun Goes Down", which shows Lil Nas X's many struggles growing up as a closeted teen and embracing his sexuality; he is seen tweeting while in high school from an account named "nasmiraj" as the lyrics "I'd be by the phone, stanning Nicki morning into dawn" play.

Sometime in the year 2018, Hill landed on music as a path to success, and started writing and recording songs in his closet. On July 24, 2018, Lil Nas released his first mixtape Nasarati on SoundCloud, though it was not received with immediate fame; Nasarati would be removed from streaming services soon after the release of Old Town Road due to a copyright conflict and therefore would never gain significant traction. In late October 2018, he happened to hear the beat that would become "Old Town Road". country, trap, or Southern hip hop song. Lil Nas X stated that he regards it as a "country trap" song. He bought the beat for the song anonymously on beat-selling platform BeatStars from Dutch producer YoungKio for $30; it samples Nine Inch Nails' track "34 Ghosts IV" from their sixth studio album Ghosts I–IV (2008). He recorded at a "humble" Atlanta studio, CinCoYo, on their "$20 Tuesdays", taking less than an hour. Lil Nas X began creating memes to promote "Old Town Road" before it was picked up by TikTok users. TikTok encourages its 500 million global users to "endless imitation", with videos generating copies usually using the same music; the "app's frantic churn of content [...] acts as a potent incubator for viral music hits."

Lil Nas X estimated he made about 100 memes to promote the song; Quartz.com says the song certainly owes part of its success to the demographic, and notes they are attracted to the song being repetitive, easy to sing along to, and using lyrics about riding horses and tractors, which children can relate to. It also debuted on the Hot Country Songs chart at number 19 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs at number 36. After an "intense bidding war", Lil Nas X signed with Columbia Records in March 2019.

In Robert Christgau's opinion, "Taking 'Old Town Road' off the country chart strikes me as racist pure and simple, because country radio remains racist regardless of the Darius Ruckers and Kane Browns it makes room for." Another Billboard spokesperson told Genius, "Billboards decision to take the song off of the country chart had absolutely nothing to do with the race of the artist." and peaking at 50. In response, Sony Music Nashville CEO Randy Goodman told Billboard that his team started testing the song in some country radio markets, adding "it would be negligent not to look at it". Media outlets also noted that the song brings attention to the historic cultural erasure of African-Americans from both country music and the American frontier era.

In April 2019, country music star Billy Ray Cyrus was featured on a remix of "Old Town Road", the first of several. That same month, Lil Nas X broke Drake's record for the most U.S. streams from one song in one week with 143 million streams for the week ending April 11, surpassing Drake's "In My Feelings" which had 116.2 million streams in a week in July 2018; as of August 2019 it has streamed over a billion plays on Spotify alone. NBC News's Michael Arceneaux wrote, "In the social media age, Lil Nas X is arguably the first micro-platform crossover star."

"Panini" was released as Lil Nas X's second single through Columbia Records on June 20, 2019. It is named after the fictional cabbit bear of the same name in the animated television series Chowder, and does not refer to the sandwich of the same name. In September 2019, "Panini" had its first remix released with rapper DaBaby. Lil Nas X released his second extended play, titled 7, on June 21, 2019. The EP debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 chart. On June 23, 2019, Lil Nas X performed with Cyrus at the 2019 BET Awards. On June 30, Lil Nas X made his international debut at the largest greenfield festival in the world, the UK's annual Glastonbury Festival, when he and Billy Ray Cyrus made a surprise appearance and joined Miley Cyrus for the song, before performing "Panini" solo in a set seen nationally on BBC. On the same day, Lil Nas X became one of the most visible Black queer male singers when he came out as gay. This was especially significant for an artist in the country and hip hop genres, both of which emphasize machismo and "historically snubbed queer artists". Rolling Stone premiered the Rolling Stone Top 100 in early July with three Lil Nas X songs: "Rodeo" with Cardi B at number nine; "Panini" at four; and "Old Town Road" as the first-ever number-one song on the chart. It is also the first song to sell 10 million copies while in the top spot. At 19 weeks at the top of the Hot Rap Songs chart the song has also beaten a three-way tie. By November 2019, the song was Diamond Certified, moving a combined sales and streaming 10 million units.

Time named him as one of the 25 most influential people on the Internet in 2019, for his "global impact on social media" and "overall ability to drive news". In 2020, he was named on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list.

Discography

Studio albums Montero (2021) Dreamboy (TBA)

Tours Long Live Montero Tour (2022–23)

Filmography