September 9, 2021
Lil Nas X Celebrates Delivery of his Debut Album with Baby Registry Benefiting LGBTQ+ Charities
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Out rapper Lil Nas X, celebrating the imminent September 17 due date of his debut album "Montero," has taken the metaphor of giving birth to a new level by announcing a "baby registry" that benefits LGBTQ+ charities, NBC News reports.
"The registry shows a list of songs that will appear on the album," NBC News detailed. "Next to each of the 15 track names is the name of a grassroots nonprofit group with a button that allows users to donate directly to the organization."
"The title track of the album, 'Montero,' is paired with the Transinclusive Group, an organization based in South Florida that is led by Black trans people and provides resources for trans and gender-nonconforming people of color," NBC News went on to say.
Other LGTBQ+ groups benefiting from the registry are Thrive SS, "an Atlanta-based organization that supports Black gay men living with HIV," and The Happy Hippie Foundation, "an organization founded by Cyrus that fights 'injustice facing homeless youth, LGBTQ youth and other vulnerable populations,' " the article said.
Another beneficiary is Arianna's Center, which "also supports the trans community of South Florida, but with a 'special emphasis on the most marginalized, including the Trans Latinx community, undocumented immigrants, people living with HIV and AIDS, and those who have experienced incarceration,' " the NBC story added. That group's link appears next to the title "Dolla Sign Slime," a track that features Meghan Thee Stallion.
It was Meghan Thee Stallion's contribution to the song that inspired a recent photo shoot showing Lil Nas X with a prosthetic "pregnancy belly," EDGE reported previously.
"I was like, 'Oh my God, this is amazing,' " the rapper related in comments to People Magazine, which ran the photos, "so I immediately called my stylist.
"She was like, 'Wow, this all comes together. Your album. Your baby,' " the "Old Town Road" singer went on to say. "I was like, 'Yeah, this is my baby, huh?' As a joke, she was like, 'Yeah, you should do a pregnancy shoot.' "
The notion also led to an Instagram announcement.
In addition to a baby registry, Lil Nas X has also announced that his artistic offspring will have a celebrity godfather.
The album's title track, which depicts the rapper going to Hell and seducing the devil with a pole dance, prompted backlash from religious conservatives.
But the artist, whose birth name is Montero Lamar Hill, contextualized the song, penning a note in which he addresses his 14-year-old self and recalls, "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," and adds, "but this will open doors for many other queer people to simply exist."
Lil Nas X has said that as a youth, he was shamed by religion for his sexuality.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
