Lil Nas X had some words for “haters” after his new single, “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)”, hit number one.
“Y’all told a 19-year-old who had just escaped the lowest point of his life that he would never have a hit again,” the rapper wrote on Twitter. “You told him to stop while he’s ahead. He could’ve gave up. but 4 multi platinum songs and 2 #1’s later, he’s still here. Thank you to my team and my fans!”
“I hope my haters are sad,” he added. “I hope they are crying.”
“Montero” is the star’s second number one after “Old Town Road”, a country-rap track that spent a record 19 weeks at the top of the US chart in 2019.
The controversial video for “Montero”, praised for being “unapologetically queer”, sees the 21-year-old artist – real name Montero Lamar Hill – in various guises, including as Adam in the Garden of Eden.
Towards the end of the video, he gives Lucifer a lap dance before snapping his neck and taking his crown.
While the video has received praise from fans, fellow artists and critics, the rapper received a backlash from right-wing pundits in the US over the provocative religious context.
“There was no system involved. I made the decision to create the music video,” he said in response to one critic who accused him of setting a bad example to his younger fans.
“I am an adult. I am not gonna spend my entire career trying to cater to your children. That is your job.”
In an earlier tweet, he commented: “There is a mass shooting every week that our government does nothing to stop. Me sliding down a CGI pole isn’t what’s destroying society.”
Upon the release of the video, Lil Nas X shared a moving letter to his 14-year-old self, which said: “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*** out of other people’s lives and stop dictating who they should be.”
