However, when considering Lil Nas X's career path, Montero State Prison is a setting that mirrors reality as he is repeatedly criticized by evangelical Christians and Twitter trolls alike for elevating gay representation - particularly for the prison's namesake, his last single ' MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)' - it's understandable Lil Nas X would consider homophobia a prison, claustrophobic and imposing, especially in the music industry. Because of structural violence inherent in this country's carceral system, positioning the institution as a gay utopia is a risky choice. The song is one of his best, but its real power comes from the accompanying, highly-stylized video wherein Lil Nas X breaks out of a prison populated with Black gay men (and, for an unspecified reason, Jack Harlow in an unseemly role as the Straight White Savior who delivers a verse that is mid at best and inappropriate at worst). His latest single, 'INDUSTRY BABY,' is an exercise in braggadocio a triumphant, horn-driven beat from Kanye West and Take A Daytrip backs up bars like 'Couple Grammys on him, couple plaques,' altogether crowning the 'Old Town Road'' hitmaker king of the rap-pop crossover throne.
Lil Nas X is unprecedented: he emerged from the depths of stan Twitter to take over the pop charts, all the while growing as an unabashedly gay rapper.
