Montero Lamar Hill or “Lil’ Nas X” exploded onto the music scene on December 3rd, 2018 with the release of his hit single Old Town Road. This was soon to be followed by the release of his debut ep 7. This album garnered Nas’ popularity and contained a remix of Old Town Road featuring country star Billy Ray Cyrus and his hit track Panini.

   The overnight success of his hit song left many in the music industry wondering whether Nas would be able to produce an album capable of following 7. Nas answered with the album Montero. Released in 2021 this album featured hit songs Montero, Industry Baby, and Thats What I Want.

   In an interview with NPR Nas stated, “I’m still getting used to writing personal stuff in songs, and being open to people about things happening in my private life.”

   This statement could not be more appropriate for the new album as many tracks featured a more personal narrative including the closing song Am I Dreaming? Which expresses the artist’ worries that his fame could disappear at any moment.

   As personal as the album is, Nas remains as confident and surprising as ever with many of the Albums’ songs containing Nas’ characteristic showmanship and sexuality. This is proven by tracks such as Montero and Industry Baby which correspond to music videos as shocking and sensual as the lyrics of the songs themselves. The cover of the album is a testament to this as it features a blatantly naked Nas suspended in the air against a colorful and otherworldly backdrop.

   The album was not perfect, however, and the chief complaint among critics was that many of the songs on Montero sounded derivative. Metacritic user Mahvrk commented, “Although there are some good songs on this album, my faves including “Dead Right Now”, “Industry Baby”, “Dollar Sign Slime”, much of the album feels underwritten or derivative.”

   Beyond the content of the songs the album tells the story of an artist who is still finding his voice. Though initial hits such as Old Town Road have defined his career Nas now has the challenge of maturing as both a performer and songwriter and he has started this journey with the release of Montero. Ultimately the album is a message from Lil Nas X to his audience that bigger and better things are soon to come.