Lil Nas X Reveals He’s Pregnant — With His First Album — in Extravagant Announcement Photos

Lil Nas X continues to be his authentic self while promoting his new music, and he announced that his album Montero will be out on September 17 in an unconventional and creative way. The unapologetically queer rapper made the big announcement with an ethereal pregnancy photoshoot, fake belly and all. The “INDUSTRY BABY” rapper shared some of the images on social media, tweeting “SURPRISE! I can’t believe i’m finally announcing this. My little bundle of joy “MONTERO” is due September 17, 2021.”

Lil Nas X also spoke with PEOPLE about this idea for the photos, revealing that Megan Thee Stallion’s verse on his song “Dolla Sign Slime” was his main inspiration. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is amazing,’ so I immediately called my stylist,” he explained. “She was like, ‘Wow, this all comes together. Your album. Your baby.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, this is my baby, huh?’ As a joke, she was like, ‘Yeah, you should do a pregnancy shoot.’ I was like, ‘You know what? That’s actually brilliant.’ So now we have this entire thing coming out, and it’s going to be amazing.”

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When asked if Montero was the product of immaculate conception, Lil Nas X explained, “I guess I am the father as well as the mother. But I guess the producers who worked on it are like the dads too,” he said. “Or maybe uncles.” The rapper has called the creative process “therapeutic” in the past, and he told PEOPLE that it was a real growing experience for him.

“I’ve changed in so many ways,” he admitted. “I’ve changed the way that I handle a lot of situations, the way I manage my sadness and anger and just understanding that I don’t have to react to emotions in certain ways. I can’t choose how I feel, but I can choose how to react. I’ve learned to let people’s comments roll off my back.” Through it all, Lil Nas X has learned “to have full faith in myself.”

“The only person that really has to believe in me is myself,” he says. “It’s been a lot of self-affirmations this year that I probably would not have been able to do two years ago.” Lil Nas X explained that while he wanted Montero to be extremely personal and truthful, he also wanted to create something fun. “You’re getting a lot of stories about me,” he said. “You’re getting a lot of stories about my past and where I want to be in my love life. But they’re also a bop. I feel like I finally found a great balance between being as real as possible within my music and making a hit song… I hope every single corner of the globe is reached with this album. It’s going to happen!”