Lil Nas X will release his much-hyped debut album, Montero, on Friday, 17th September.
The rapper and singer from Atlanta, who’s been one of the globe’s top ten most-streamed artists in recent years, has unveiled the Montero artwork, which is every bit as ecstatic as you might expect.
Pictured below, the artwork draws overt inspiration from John Stephens’ artwork ‘Genesis II’. Lil Nas cited Stephens’ work as one of two core influences on the Montero album art. The other – and let’s not forget Lil Nas X was born in 1999 – is SpongeBob SquarePants.
Stephens, an American fantastic realist painter, created ‘Genesis II’ in 2010 using paint and computer graphics. In a tweet disclosing the influence of Stephens’ work, Lil Nas included a quote from the bible: “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.”
Of course, what makes the Montero artwork particularly exceptional is the representation of Lil Nas’ naked body floating amid the hyper-real renaissance scene.
Lil Nas X rose to international fame in early 2019 with the single ‘Old Town Road’. He released the EP, 7, later that year. So far, three tracks have been released from Montero, including the latest single, ‘Industry Baby’ feat. Jack Harlow and co-production from Kanye West. The album title refers to Lil Nas’ birth name, Montero Lamar Hill.
