"Montero (Call Me by Your Name)" is a song by the American rapper and singer Lil Nas X. First previewed in a Super Bowl LV commercial in February 2021, the song was released on March 26, 2021, through Columbia Records, as the lead single and title track from his debut studio album, Montero (2021). It was written by Lil Nas X himself, along with its producers, Take a Daytrip, Omer Fedi, and Roy Lenzo. Musically, the song is a hip-hop and electropop record.
The song is noted for its queer themes, including its gay references and lyrics, taking its name from a 2007 book, Call Me by Your Name, which centers on a gay romance. The "camp", tongue-in-cheek, sexually charged music video for the song depicts Lil Nas X in a number of ironic yet thought-provoking Christian-inspired scenes, including the artist riding a stripper pole to Hell, and giving a lap dance to Satan. The song and video were praised by commentators for their black and queer sensibilities, though the video received backlash from a number of American conservative figureheads who deemed the content "immoral" or harmful to children.
"Montero (Call Me by Your Name)" debuted at the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100, giving Lil Nas X his second number-one hit after his debut single, "Old Town Road" (2019). The single was certified sextuple platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in November 2022. Outside of the US, "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)" topped the charts in 20 other countries, including Canada, France, and the United Kingdom. The song received nominations for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Music Video at the 2022 Grammy Awards. It has over 2 billion streams on Spotify, once ranking among the 100 most-streamed songs on the platform.
Background In 2019, Lil Nas X released "Old Town Road", a single that would go on to set a record for the longest-charting number-one song on the Billboard Hot 100. However, with some people dismissing his success as a one-hit wonder, Lil Nas X wanted to depart from the country trap sound of "Old Town Road" when working on his debut album; instead, he focused on rap, pop, and R&B, influenced by Drake and Nicki Minaj. Take a Daytrip, who produced the song, described the process behind creating the song as serendipitous. In early 2020, Lil Nas X asked the production duo to executively produce his debut album, and started recording ideas on his phone during COVID-19 lockdown. In a recording session, Lil Nas X came up with the lyrics "Call me when you want, call me when you need, call me in the morning", which led to producer Omer Fedi recording a guitar part, which was then done on banjo.
Originally titled "Call Me by Your Name", Lil Nas X played a snippet of the song in a Twitter video on July 9, 2020, as well as in the background of various TikTok videos, including one that was addressed to hip-hop rapper 6ix9ine. It was featured in a Logitech commercial that aired during Super Bowl LV in February 2021. On March 9, 2021, its release date was announced via Twitter, along with its cover. The single cover was created by Spanish–Croatian artist Filip Ćustić and features Lil Nas X as both Adam and God in a reinterpretation of Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam.
The song's title is taken from Lil Nas X's real first name, while the subtitle is a reference to the 2017 LGBT romance-themed film of the same name. André Aciman, author of the novel from which the film was adapted, expressed that he was grateful and humbled that Lil Nas X had written a song with the same name as his novel. Lil Nas X later stated the film was one of the first queer movies he had ever seen that felt "very artsy" and made him interested in the concept of "calling somebody by your own name as lovers and trying to keep it between you two", inspiring him to write about it.
In an interview with Zane Lowe on the day before the release, he described his newfound self-confidence after being able to express himself freely in his new song. Furthermore, in the May issue of GQ Style, he described the conflict between his sexuality and his Christian upbringing, notably his father's role as a gospel singer, calling the new song and video "rebellious" because they allowed him to express himself in a way he hadn't before. On the day of the single's release, Lil Nas X shared an open letter to his 14-year-old self on Twitter, reflecting on his choice to come out at an early age and his nervousness about the song. However, he ultimately says it "will open doors for many other queer people to simply exist" and expressed his desire to let people be who they are.
Composition "Montero (Call Me by Your Name)" is a hip hop and electropop song with guitar and handclaps in syncopation. Billboard described the track as a "flamenco-like track with a subtle trap beat", while Consequence of Sound called it "flamenco and reggaeton dipped in pop". Slate noted the song's "dembow-style rhythm" while the chorus was compared to technopop in the style of Gary Numan. Lil Nas X's vocals in the second verse were likened to a cross between Juice Wrld and Iann Dior. The humming section following the chorus was included as a sort of mating call. A longer version of the song, dubbed "Satan's extended version", adds an extra half-minute and features an additional iteration of the chorus as well as a longer outro.
The song is played alla breve at 90 beats per minute and was originally published in G minor, with a vocal range from G3 to G5. Like previous songs by production duo Take a Daytrip, "Montero (Call Me by Your Name)" is in the Phrygian mode and was described as having a "Middle Eastern or Moorish or Spanish sound". Its chord progression, D–E–E–D, goes up and down a minor second, which was intended to create and release tension. Guitarist Omer Fedi plays the banjo on a harmonic minor scale, which was later processed with reverb and Auto-Tune.
The song, like many of Lil Nas X's past projects, features queer themes. Renting out an Airbnb at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to work on his debut album, Lil Nas X revealed that it was written about a man he met in mid-2020 who was partying and taking drugs while in quarantine. In its lyrics, Lil Nas X tells his lover he no longer wants to be on the down-low. He features the line "shoot a child in yo' mouth while I'm ridin', which was intended to help break the stigma around references to gay sexual practices in music. Lil Nas X revealed he was afraid of turning away straight fans with an explicit lyric about gay sex, but decided "if they feel offended, they were never really here for me." The lyrics also discuss the pressure Lil Nas X feels in representing the LGBT community ("A sign of the times every time that I speak") and include a reference to the 19 weeks his single "Old Town Road" spent atop the Billboard Hot 100 ("A dime and a nine / It was mine every week").
Release and promotion The original track and music video were released on March 26, 2021, with an extended version released on March 29. In addition, Lil Nas X released a number of follow-up videos via his YouTube channel, including a muffled version (titled "MONTERO but ur in the bathroom of hell while lil nas is giving satan a lap dance in the other room") on March 28, an instrumental version (subtitled "But Lil Nas X Is Silent The Entire Time") on March 31, a behind-the-scenes look behind the song's recording process (subtitled "Official Video except its not the official video at all") on April 5, and a lo-fi version (subtitled "but it's lofi and something you can study to lol") on April 9. The lo-fi version was produced by L. Dre and Zeuz Makes Music, and was previously uploaded to the latter's YouTube channel a few days earlier. On April 23, he released an a cappella version along with an accompanying music video in the style of The Brady Bunch.
Following the song's release, he launched a promotion on Twitter where he gave out $100,000 worth of Bitcoin. He also offered $10,000 through a pole dancing challenge on the social media platform TikTok, with the hashtag #PoleDanceToHell. Another promotional tool was a collaboration with augmented reality mobile app Jadu, in which users can interact with a volumetric video-generated Lil Nas X wearing red angel wings. In addition, a free browser game titled Twerk Hero was released, in which the player controls a virtual Lil Nas X twerking to "Montero (Call Me by Your Name)". Developed by Roni Games using the Unreal Engine, the rhythm game has four levels, each accompanying a scene from the song's music video, and was noted for its jiggle physics. Lil Nas X also unveiled several T-shirts in collaboration with Pizzaslime.
On April 13, it was reported that the song was briefly removed from streaming services for unknown reasons, after Lil Nas X had asked his fans to stream the song "because it may no longer be available tomorrow". Columbia Records released a statement that the situation was "out of their control", but did not elaborate. However, later the same day, Billboard reported that the song was not being removed from streaming services, though no further explanation was offered.
Satan Shoes
Tying into the music video's theme, Lil Nas X collaborated with art collective MSCHF Product Studio to create 666 individually numbered pairs of Nike Air Max 97 "Satan Shoes" adorned with pentagrams, inverted crosses, and the Bible verse Luke 10:18. They also contain of ink mixed with one drop of blood from a member of the MSCHF team in the sole, which was collected over the course of a week. The shoes, which were priced at $1,018 per pair and sold out in under a minute, were compared to comic books by rock band Kiss and Marvel Comics that were printed using the band members' blood. Nike, Inc. was not involved with the design or release of the shoes, and later filed a lawsuit against MSCHF for trademark infringement and dilution. In defense, MSCHF claimed that the shoes were meant to be a form of art for display and not to actually be worn. A U.S. District Court in New York approved of a temporary restraining order against MSCHF, thereby preventing further sales of the shoes, though they were already shipped to their buyers. The lawsuit was eventually settled, with MSCHF issuing a voluntary product recall and buying back any Satan Shoes at their original price.
Live performances Lil Nas X performed the song as the musical guest on the last episode of season 46 of Saturday Night Live. Airing May 22, 2021, and hosted by actress Anya Taylor-Joy, the episode also featured the performance of his newest song "Sun Goes Down". During the performance of "Montero (Call Me by Your Name)", a wardrobe malfunction occurred, splitting the seam of his trousers when he squatted during a pole dance routine, leaving him unable to perform it as planned. Lil Nas X also performed the song at the 2021 BET Awards on June 27, 2021. The ancient Egypt-themed performance was a tribute to the visuals of "Remember the Time" by Michael Jackson and ended with the singer kissing a male backup dancer. Billboard ranked the performance number-one out of the sixteen in the ceremony, noting it was "the highlight of the night". Madonna compared the performance with her 2003 MTV Video Music Awards performance, when she kissed Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears on stage while performing "Hollywood", by sharing the photos of both kisses one above the other on her Instagram stories and captioning it with "#DidItFirst". Fans immediately perceived the post as an insult and began to criticise Madonna; however, Lil Nas X dismissed the post as a joke and stated he's friends with Madonna.
Music video
Production