walking upstream…
Lil Nas X
photo: difronzo · cc by 2.0 ↗Lil Nas X
Montero Lamar Hill turned a $30 country-trap beat and a self-run meme campaign into "Old Town Road," the longest-running No. 1 in Billboard Hot 100 history, then used that unlikely platform to become one of pop's most openly, unapologetically queer Black stars. Raised as much online as anywhere — he was, before he was famous, a dedicated Nicki Minaj stan running his own fan Twitter account — he treats genre as a costume to be swapped between hooks, and rollout as performance art, from horseback memes to a lap dance for Satan.
the sound in question
2021
MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)Lil Nas X
walk the tributaries ↓
Nicki Minaj2010s · Hip hop / Pop rap / R&B
Lil Nas X has named Minaj as one of his biggest influences, and his path to stardom literally started as a Minaj stan — he ran the fan Twitter account @NasMaraj, learning how to move an online crowd years before he had a song, and pulled the "Nas" in his stage name straight from that handle. Her genre-crossing pop-rap singles and larger-than-life, character-driven persona shaped the hook-first, internet-fluent pop star he became.
listen: upstream & heresource: Complex — Lil Nas X on Kanye West, meeting Nicki Minaj, and needing space ↗
2010
Super BassNicki Minaj
2019
Old Town RoadLil Nas X
listen forPlay "Super Bass" next to "Old Town Road" back to back — both stack an enormous, singalong pop hook on top of a rapper's cadence, turning genre-crossing bravado into a mainstream radio smash without ever smoothing out the personality underneath it.
Kanye West2000s · Hip-hop / Conscious hip-hop
Lil Nas X has said he watches Kanye West interviews and motivational clips for a jolt of confidence, admiring how outspoken West is even when it "might not always come out great." West later told him he reminded him of his own prime and, after being shown an early cut, produced "Industry Baby" — turning admiration into a direct production credit.
listen: upstream & heresource: iHeart — Lil Nas X Credits Kanye West As An Inspiration Behind His Unapologetic Ways ↗
2007
StrongerKanye West
2021
INDUSTRY BABYLil Nas X
listen forSet "Stronger" beside "Industry Baby": both take a maximalist, sample-driven beat, add horn-blast bravado, and turn a boast into a triumphant, defiantly loud victory lap.
Frank Ocean2010s · Alternative R&B / Hip hop
Lil Nas X has named Frank Ocean (alongside Tyler, the Creator) as an artist who "made it easier for me to be where I am, comfortably" as an openly gay Black man in hip-hop-adjacent pop, telling Zane Lowe that Ocean's 2017 single "Provider" meant a lot to him during a relationship he was in at the time.
listen: upstream & heresource: PinkNews — Lil Nas X reflects on how Frank Ocean and Tyler, the Creator helped him come out ↗
2017
ProviderFrank Ocean
2021
THATS WHAT I WANTLil Nas X
listen forPut "Provider" next to "THATS WHAT I WANT": both trade tough-guy posturing for plainspoken, vulnerable longing for a real relationship, sung by a Black artist who refuses to keep that longing coded or hidden.