Montero

Montero (stylized in all caps) is the debut studio album by Lil Nas X. It was released on September 17, 2021, through Columbia Records. The deluxe version is set to be released early-mid 2022.

Background
On July 7, 2020, Lil Nas X revealed that his upcoming debut album is "almost finished". He also stated that he is working on a mixtape, and invited producers to submit their beats for his new music. On July 10, he teased the release of a new song titled "Call Me by Your Name", posting a snippet of it online.

In January 2021, he released a children's book, C is for Country. The following month, he again previewed the song, "MONTERO (Call Me by Your Name)" in a Super Bowl LV commercial. The song was officially released on March 26, 2021. On the same day, Nas X revealed that his debut album would be named MONTERO, and that it would be released in the summer of 2021.

In a new interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music, the rapper explained more about the album, saying that it will be “about 15 to 18” tracks long and that a deluxe edition is set to follow the regular album in the autumn.

On April 24, the album was announced 97% finished, along with its release in the summer.

On June 28, a solo demo of "Industry Baby" leaked. This version is most likely the one that was initially teased by Nas on Twitter in October 2020.

On June 29, Nas posted a trailer for what is now confirmed as "MONTERO". The video features clips from previous songs in a marvel style opening. It then ends with the first 15~ seconds of an early version of "INDUSTRY BABY".

On July 19, Nas posted a video titled "Lil Nas X - INDUSTRY BABY (Prelude)". The video is about a fictional court case about his "Satan Shoes", mocking the court case against MSCHF by Nike in April. At the end, INDUSTRY BABY (Ft. Jack Harlow) is announced, along with the release date of July 23rd. This marks the first collab Lil Nas X has done since Rodeo (Ft. Nas). The track is produced by Take A Daytrip and Kanye West. It's music video will be alongside the songs release.

On July 21, Nas confirmed in a now deleted quote tweet that "HOLIDAY" would not included on the album. Rumours suggest that Nas did this because of the songs poor performance on the charts.

On July 23, Nas released "INDUSTRY BABY (Feat. Jack Harlow) along side it's Music Video. The video takes place in the fictional "MONTERO STATE PRISON", where Nas escapes alongside Jack Harlow.

On July 27, a version of the album leaked on to the internet consisting of demo versions of songs some previously unheard or not fully released. Alongside this leak, melody runs and demos of "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)", and other songs leaked. This version of the album had 16 tracks on it.

On August 25, Apple Music officially put up a pre-save page for "MONTERO". The album is scheduled to release on the 17th of September, and has 15 tracks.

On August 26, Nas officially announced "MONTERO" with a video titled "LIL NAS X PRESENTS “MONTERO” THE ALBUM". The video is a parody news story and continues on from the "INDUSTRY BABY" video. At the end of the video, a new snippet of "THATS WHAT I WANT" plays. The official website "welcometomontero.com" was also revealed.

On August 27, Nas posted a video alongside the caption "MONTERO 🦋 9•17 💕". The video is of Nas inside a chrysalis, alongside a voice in the background saying "wake up montero, it's time". The video signifies Nas "blooming, spreading his wings". The video features a muffled snippet of the instrumental for "AM I DREAMING (feat. Miley Cyrus)".

On August 31, Nas unveiled the cover art for "MONTERO". it represents "the circle of life" and is inspired by "Genesis II" by John Stephens".

On September 1, Nas revealed the official track list for the album, alongside a video. The track list can be seen below.

Track listing
There are 15 tracks on the standard edition of the album, with additional tracks set to be included on the upcoming deluxe edition. All songs are stylized in uppercase, excluding "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)", stylized as "MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)".

Possible deluxe tracks or outtakes
Songs on this list still have a possibility of appearing on the deluxe edition of the album and should therefore not be removed.
 * Bold implies that a song has been fully leaked and/or released.
 * Italic implies that the title has been confirmed and/or a snippet has been teased/leaked.
 * Underlined implies that a title is not confirmed and therefore might not be final.

List

 * ANOMALY
 *  Badum  (feat. Iggy Azalea) (also known as "Badum Badum")
 * Curtain Call
 * EMPATHY (feat. Sam Smith)
 * Falling Down (feat. Starrah)
 * F*ck Around (also known as "FCK Around")
 * Guess U Get What U Want
 * How You Know (feat. 24kGoldn)
 * Ice Cold
 * KIMBO
 * Melody (recording session)
 * My Little Baby
 *  Ocean  (also known as "Emotions")
 * OWAYO
 * Red Light Green Light
 * Russian Revolution
 * Take Me On Tour
 * TITANIC
 *  Too Many 
 * Tsunami
 * Unknown Song #1 (recording session)
 * Unknown Song #2
 * Waitin' 4 U (also known as "Waiting For You")
 * Welcome to MONTERO (interlude)
 * YOU CAN AWAKE