Lil Nas X aka Montero Lamar Hill shot to prominence, and global fame, in 2018 with his smash-hit single ‘Old Town Road’ featuring Billy Ray Cyrus. The song proved to be a disruptor to Country music with fans arguing over whether or not the song really was Country. Regardless of the controversy around it, it shot to number one on both sides of the Atlantic and ensured the rap star’s EP ‘7’ sold over 2 million copies in the US alone. That provided the launch platform for debut album ‘Montero’, which was a global success, and established Lil Nas X as a star on the rise.
Following the success of ‘Old Town Road’, Lil Nas X revealed that he was gay. In doing so he positioned himself as one of the only out-gay black artists in the hip-hop mainstream and with that came plenty of commentary. In new documentary ‘Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero’, the rap star takes camera behind the scenes of his debut headline tour ‘Long Live Montero’, which ran from 2022-2023. Candid conversations are spliced with explosive live performances throughout, meaning that the documentary straddles the line between concert film and revealing tell-all.
As with any documentary, your enjoyment of ‘Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero’ will really depend on how you feel about ‘Lil Nas X’. To Gen-Z, he’s a trailblazing artist that’s opening doors for black and under-represented artists, unapologetically himself and trying to make his mark on the world. To the cynics, he’s using controversy to sell music and keep his name in the spotlight. Which one is true? Honestly, it’s hard to tell from this documentary. Lil Nas X is surrounded by people constantly telling him how ground-breaking he is but the interviews with the man himself paint an artist that’s had to fight to be himself, and is still very much in the process of discovering who he is.
While there are glimpses of the real Lil Nas X throughout, the documentary distracts the viewer with performances from the ‘Long Live Montero’ tour. These overshadow the candid moments and at times they are so over-produced, it’s hard to tell if the rapper is even performing live. It could be an audio-sync issue or the performances may be dubbed, as is often the case with concert films, but I would have really liked to see if Lil Nas X can live up to the hype he’s created.
‘Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero’ will be a must-see for fans of the rapper. Its appeal is unlikely to extend outside of that and this documentary doesn’t really dig as deep as you hope it will. There are some nice moments, particularly commentary around coming out to his family, but overall the documentary feels more like a 95-minute sales-reel for Lil Nas X, the star. Perhaps a standalone documentary alongside a concert film may have given a more rounded picture of the rapper?
Cast: Lil Nas X Director: Carlos López Estrada & Zac Manuel Certificate: 15 Duration: 95 mins Released by: Universal Pictures Release date: 20th May 2024 Buy ‘Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero’ now
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