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Screenshot of Lil Nas X’s “DREAMBOY” video
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Lil Nas X is back and better than ever with “DREAMBOY,” the title track from his eagerly awaited sophomore album. Released on Monday (March 10), the Grammy Award winner reminded fans he’s still got plenty to say.
In the accompanying visual effort, Lil Nas X stands inside a pink box that bears the song’s title — like he’s a Ken doll ready to be unwrapped. “Good evening, everybody. I would like for you to grab a glass of wine and let me talk to you for a minute,” he says before taking a drag from a cigarette.
“I was scared then, ain’t scared now / Weren’t ready then, but I’m ready now,” Lil Nas X spits on the single, subsequently crowning himself the “controversy king” a few bars later. His confidence carries over elsewhere in the verse when he references Halloween, “s**tting” on his competition, and his Brazilian fanbase — all while delivering bars like, “Hey, hey, hey, b**ch, I’m still making history / Okay, I’m global, I’m back to taking over.”
The “Old Town Road” hitmaker then doubled down on a line — nestled at the end of the opening verse — that could’ve rubbed some casual listeners the wrong way: “Fell off for a minute, now I’m back on / I just do what I want, I don’t care what they like / Say it with me, n**ga, ‘B**ch, I’m back like J. Christ.’” His 2024 track “J CHRIST” — which featured Ye, Oprah Winfrey and Taylor Swift look-alikes in its video — was seemingly set to launch his sophomore album rollout. However, that plan quickly derailed after the song received backlash, with critics claiming that he was “mocking Christianity.”
After a few months and a heated exchange with Azealia Banks about how he “fell off,” Lil Nas X hit the reset button and dropped the trailer for “phase one” of DREAMBOY. However, days after the announcement, Sega Bodega accused the rapper of copying his cover concept for “Angel On My Shoulder,” a single he dropped three years prior, for “LIGHT AGAIN!”
That’s not to say Lil Nas X hasn’t picked up a few wins along the way, like presenting at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards or dropping the tantalizing “need dat boy,” but there’s still a long road ahead. Luckily, “DREAMBOY” feels like a promising step toward reclaiming the momentum we saw during his rise to stardom.
