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This week, Lil Nas X’s new single “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It follows the massive success of “Old Town Road,” becoming a cultural phenomenon.
How does Lil Nas X do it? Well, it isn’t just all luck. Lil Nas X is actually a very tactical and good marketer. His success stems from a combination of understanding social media and culture, creating controversy, and of course, making good music.
Lil Nas X is great at two things: getting attention and stirring up the pot. In fact, they both go hand in hand. He gets attention for his eccentric and eclectic music, videos, style, etc., and that in turn causes controversy, which just gets him more attention.
But the thing Lil Nas X does better than anyone else is doubling down on the controversy all while staying true to himself.
Let’s take a look at how he did this for “Montero (Call Me By Your Name).” The song was released with a truly memorable music video that was filled with plenty of meme-able moments: Lil Nas X pole dancing his way to hell, and then giving Satan a suggestive lap dance.
The music video was deliberate. Lil Nas X knew the second the video was released that the internet was going to go crazy, and it did, almost instantly. Thousands of reactionary posts hit social media. The posts were mostly good, but there was some outrage, which turned into more outrage. Lil Nas X knew he struck gold.
At this moment, Lil Nas X could have stopped, but he didn’t. He actually doubled down. His team released ancillary videos to his YouTube Channel: a “Satan’s Extended Version,” a “But Lil Nas X Is Silent the Entire Time” instrumental version and “Bathroom of Hell” version.
Lil Nas X doubled down, again, on the viral pole, even creating a pole dancing challenge on TikTok using the hashtag #PoleDanceToHell. Then came the “Satan Shoes.” Lil Nas X partnered with the team at MSCHF to create 666 pairs of devil-themed Nike’s Air Max 97s, which sold out in seconds. The shoes, which were said to contain a drop of human blood, caused even more controversy. It got to the point where Nike had to send a temporary restraining order against MSCHF and Lil Nas X. Who else can get one of the biggest brands in the world to respond? It’s as if Lil Nas X knew this was going to happen because he immediately released a fake apology video about the incident.
Lil Nas X then spent the next week constantly adding gasoline to the fire by doing what he does best: trolling the internet—responding to the negative comments, creating memes, retweeting TikToks and UGC, and making sure that the pot is always getting stirred.
The results? Well another No. 1 record, 96 million-plus YouTube views for the “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” music video, and the top spot on YouTube’s U.S. trending category.
As marketers, we focus so much on getting the story we want to tell right, that figuring out how to tell it almost becomes an afterthought. We all can’t create and lean into controversy like Lil Nas X does, but if there’s one thing we can take away from Lil Nas X’s continued success, it’s that our job is never quite finished. There’s always going to be fresh and exciting ways to tell different facets of a story—and if you’re lucky, you’ll even create a little chaos and have some fun along the way.
The best part of the Lil Nas X controversy is that it might be the most effective marketing tactic to boost the song’s numbers. Lil Nas X knows this and he knows how to capitalize on these moments, and by using social media and memes he really keeps them going. Getting attention in this social media era is easy, keeping it is a lot harder. Lil Nas X can do both, and well. So go stream “Montero” right now, or don’t, but as long as everyone keeps talking about Lil Nas X, he’s going to keep winning.
