On Sunday (Sept. 26), Billboard officially charted Lil Nas X’s MONTERO at No. 2, selling 126,000 units in its first week.
While these numbers are a terrific output for the hip-hop/pop star, they were not enough to knock off Drake‘s Certified Lover Boy from the top spot on the Billboard 200 in its third week. CLB sold a whopping 171,000 units last week, and looks to continue to have a stronghold on the charts in the near future.
Lil Nas X is still a generational chart-topper, as MONTERO is now his second project to achieve this status.
In this case, there is no shame in second place for Nas X, as Drizzy is a near-impossible musician to top when it comes to the Billboard charts. However, Nas X and Drizzy seemingly coexist in the same lane of pop-culture.
Nas X isn’t so far off from Drizzy’s chart stardom, as we could see the Atlanta native become the Drake of pop music in years to come.
Lil Nas X aiming for big debut with ‘MONTERO’
It’s been three days since Lil Nas X dropped his momentous debut album, and his sales projections seem to speak for itself. After its first weekend on DSPs, MONTERO is aiming to sell between 130-140k first-week units, per Hits Daily Double.
It is unsure at the moment whether that will be enough to secure the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200, considering that Drake sold 236k units with Certified Lover Boy in its second week.
Regardless, these numbers are still a major accomplishment for the budding star, as he continues to set charts ablaze with each new release. The day MONTERO dropped (Sept. 17), every song entered the Apple Music Top 100 chart, which is not easy to do.
As the numbers become official in the coming days, we will see if Lil Nas X is able to capture the No. 1 spot he is already very familiar with.
Lil Nas X releases debut album ‘MONTERO’
Lil Nas X’s moment is finally here. On Sept. 17, he released MONTERO, his long-awaited debut studio album. The project lasts about 40 minutes long, as the fifteen songs are an exquisite balance between pop-rock ballads and hard-hitting, boisterous hip-hop cuts.
Features like Doja Cat, Megan Thee Stallion and Miley Cyrus on the closer elevate the album, but do not distract from Nas X’s unique energy and creativity. As the album dropped at midnight, Lil Nas X simultaneously released the steamy music video for the fourth song “THATS WHAT I WANT,” showing him as a football player getting hot and heavy in the locker room with his teammate.
MONTERO‘s release is two years in the making, evident in the thirteenth song “DONT WANT IT,” produced by Internet Money, which Nas X first previewed before his 2019 EP 7. After all of the build up, the album is finally here. Stream Lil Nas X’s debut album MONTERO below.
On Sept. 1, Lil Nas X took to Twitter to drop the tracklist for his upcoming album MONTERO.
“MONTERO” 🦋💕
— MONTERO 🦋 (@LilNasX) September 1, 2021
TRACKLIST 💿
ALBUM OUT
SEP. 17. 2021 pic.twitter.com/YwkOvuDJlH
The album includes features from pop stars like Miley Cyrus and Elton John, as well as female pop-rap dynamos like Megan Thee Stallion and Doja Cat. The tracklist release was also accompanied by a snippet of a melodic pop track in the background of the video.
This news comes a day after Lil Nas unveiled the majestic cover art for his album, which he explained was influenced by painter John Stephens.
“MONTERO” 🦋💕
— MONTERO 🦋 (@LilNasX) August 31, 2021
THE DEBUT ALBUM
OUT SEP. 17. 2021 pic.twitter.com/oga7KGClvI
As we’re now days away from another inevitable takeover by Lil Nas X, this full-length project is certainly long-overdue from music’s resident barrier-breaker.
Ever since Lil Nas X burst onto the scene with the longest running No. 1 record in music history, “Old Town Road” and its subsequent remixes, he has always had his debut album in his sights.
As time went on, he released an EP, several song snippets and continued stacking accolades with more smash hits like “Panini” and “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name).” Now, over two years in the making, Lil Nas X announced Wednesday (Aug. 25) that his first album MONTERO is set to drop on Sept. 17.
The album’s trailer creatively picks up where the storyline of “INDUSTRY BABY” left off, with him on the run after escaping prison — quickly finding a phone booth to make a call and inexplicably being submerged into a colorful abyss with an upbeat, guitar-led unreleased track playing in the background. Lil Nas X is no stranger to extravagant, well-produced visuals, so this comes as no surprise as the album will likely have more visual elements accompanied with it. The trailer’s end shows the release date for the project, which is Sept. 17.
Nas X first alluded to the album’s upcoming release in late June with a Marvel-inspired teaser video that included a snippet of “INDUSTRY BABY.”
Although Nas has shared its release date, he has still not given an album cover or tracklist for the record that will include his three latest singles. The Apple Music pre-save page for the album includes a placeholder art, but is not Nas’ official cover.
Lil Nas X explained on Twitter — a forum he is notoriously fond of using— that it is key to move at your own pace as a creative and a musician to make fruitful art.
Longing to share his work, it seems as though Lil Nas X is ready to take over once more as one of music’s most unique — and untouchable — hit-makers.
