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First, there’s the corporate era of their launch, when they build a big tween following. Young white pop stars usually follow an established narrative. The album is a reminder of why his voice as a young queer artist is so important, and it hints at the struggles he’s endured in order for the industry to make space for him.
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“Who would've thought I'd get there anyway?” he sings at one point, seemingly alluding to the summit he’s reached. Montero, his dreamy, evocative portrait of a former stan turned vulnerable superstar, is another sign of his talent. 1 hits, magazine covers, Grammy awards, SNL music guest spots, VMAs - a tall order in music’s ruthless attention economy era. In the run-up to his new album, Montero, out today, the 22-year-old garnered all the markers of pop success: No. 1 pop hits, last month he was the most-streamed rapper on Spotify, and he’s currently one of the top 10 most-streamed artists on the platform, period. Yet even amid a newer generation of queer acts, ranging from Troye Sivan and Sam Smith to Frank Ocean, Lil Nas X has already reached an unprecedented level of commercial success and industry recognition. “Hee-hee, I'm bad as Michael Jackson,” he sang on last year’s “Holiday.” “Pop star, but the rappers still respect me.” That a queer rapper has become a monocultural symbol of pop transgression is the result of numerous historical forces, including the undeniably dominant role of hip-hop in the streaming era and the increased visibility of LGBTQ artists. Whether he’s turning his album rollout into a parody of pregnancy announcements or selling Satan shoes as tie-in merch to a devil gay lap dance video, he’s excelled at what pop stars used to do before they started selling everything but themselves: crossing new lines of commodifiable transgression that make us see the world differently. Since then, the one-time member of the Barbz came out and - in an era of downcast pop doldrums - has become pop’s most consistently surprising provocateur.
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He was half joking about the controversies that have embroiled him since his ubiquitous, record-breaking 2019 hit “Old Town Road” took over pop culture. “I want to say thank you to the gay agenda!” Lil Nas X proclaimed as he won the Video of the Year award at the MTV VMAs on Sept.