Lil Nas X delivered a historic performance at the BET Awards on Sunday, making out with one of his male dancers after a fiery set.
The genre-bending rapper sang his hit “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” at the awards show, bringing members of the audience to their feet as he wrapped the rendition by locking lips with a dancer. The performance had an ancient Egyptian theme, with Nas dressed in shining gold like a Pharoah in an homage to Michael Jackson’s “Remember the Time” music video. Nas even sang some of the song’s chorus at the end of his set.
Fans took to Twitter after the performance to celebrate the moment, noting it arrived on the last day of Pride.
The showcase was electrifying and definitely much more successful than Lil Nas X’s Saturday Night Live performance in May, during which he ripped his pants. About two years ago, the rapper also delivered a buzzy, entertaining performance of his hit “Old Town Road” with Billy Ray Cyrus at the BET Awards.
After riding a stripper pole to hell in the “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” music video, Lil Nas X ascended to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April. He previously opened up about the release of the track with a personal message to his fans. He dedicated the song to his childhood self (Nas’ birth name is Montero Lamar Hill). In the notes for “Montero,” the rapper wrote that his music “will open doors for many other queer people to simply exist” and hit back at haters who said he was promoting “an agenda.”
“Dear 14-year-old Montero, I wrote a song with our name in it. It’s about a guy I met last summer. I know we promised to never come out publicly, I know we promised to never be ‘that’ type of gay person, I know we promised to die with the secret, but this will open doors for many other queer people to simply exist,” the note read. “You see this is very scary for me, people will be angry, they will say I’m pushing an agenda. But the truth is, I am. The agenda to make people stay the f— out of other people’s lives and stop dictating who they should be. Sending you love from the future.”
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