Born Montero Lamar Hill in Georgia, Lil Nas X, 25, rose to fame in 2019 with his single Old Town Road, which won many awards, including two Grammys. In 2021, he released his debut album Montero, which featured the hits Montero (Call Me By Your Name), Industry Baby and Thats What I Want. The following year, he completed his first worldwide tour. The documentary Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero – directed by Carlos López Estrada and Zac Manuel and released on digital platforms on 20 May – sees him navigating issues of identity, family and acceptance as he embarks on the tour. He lives in Los Angeles.
When were you happiest?
Maybe on tour when I was in Argentina. Yeah, or Brazil: oh my God, those people out there.
What is your earliest memory?
Looking out of the window in my house and watching my siblings go to school, I was aware of a thought popping into my head: wait, I’m alive and a person doing stuff. I was five.
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
I have to say myself, because I know everything that he’s been through and still continues to go through. I admire him. So I vote me – I like him.
What is your guiltiest pleasure?
My self-indulgent days where I’ll do nothing but eat as much junk food as possible while in bed.
Aside from a property, what’s the most expensive thing you’ve bought?
A trip that was, like, $100k. It was a lot of money and I didn’t even go on it. It was to St Barts. I paid for me and my friends and a lot of stuff fell apart, and then it ended up with one of my friends just going with his girlfriend.
What is your most treasured possession?
My Jeep.
Describe yourself in three words.
Determined, emotional, hopeful.
What would your superpower be?
Shapeshifting.
after newsletter promotion
If you could bring something extinct back to life, what would you choose?
I don’t think I would bring anything back. Everything that’s gone, stay where you are.
Who would play you in the film of your life?
I think they’re not even born yet.
Would you choose fame or anonymity?
Fame. The perks. It has its perks – free stuff, for some reason.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
I feel like it’s always what I’m about to do.
What keeps you awake at night?
Figuring out the best way to introduce the next version of myself.
What happens when we die?
I think we are ejected from the simulation. I have this theory that we all asked to come here but it was on the one condition that we can’t remember that we asked to come here. So I think we go back to wherever that place was and we ask: oh, can I do this thing in the next lifetime?
How would you like to be remembered?
Whichever way people perceive me, but hopefully something good-leaning or neutral.
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
That I can’t control it.