Lil Nas X debuts artwork for ‘Montero’ album and reveals its unique inspiration

Columbia Records

Every day brings us one step closer to Lil Nas X‘s debut album, Montero, due out September 17.

On Tuesday, the “Industry Baby” artist debuted the album’s official artwork, a psychedelic piece that depicts a nude Lil Nas X floating over a waterfall while surrounded by rainbows, butterflies and droplets of water.  The cover also features buildings reminiscent of Greco-Roman architecture, lush green grass and a twisted tree, underneath which a smaller Lil Nas X is reclining while playing with bubbles and butterflies.

As fans furiously attempted to decode the hidden messages and meanings in Montero‘s cover art, Lil Nas X revealed that a certain yellow sponge inspired his pose.

Taking to Twitter after the reveal, he shared a SpongeBob SquarePants meme, which features the titular character rising up to the rainbow sky while an iPod, connected by a pair of headphones, dangles beneath him.

Lil Nas X then featured the meme side-by-side with his new album artwork and captioned it, “inspiration.”

“The album art is a continuous loop, to represent the circle of life,” he added in another tweet before revealing that he was inspired by another external source for the colorful album cover.

Lil Nas X revealed in a follow up that the concept was inspired by a Bible verse found in Genesis 2:1-2, “Thus the heavens and the Earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.” He also revealed the album’s backdrop was a tribute to a painting by artist John Stephens and shared a side-by-side comparison, as well.

Lil Nas X also promised on Twitter that he will reveal Montero‘s track list today.

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