Lil Nas X Thanks FKA twigs for Inspiring "MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)" Music Video
The two artists have addressed the controversy on Instagram.
Squashing rumors of animosity between the two, Lil Nas X and FKA twigs have addressed recently raised similarities between the two artists’ music videos. Upon releasing his controversial visual for “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name),” Nas was criticized for the undeniable parallels between his work and twigs’ “cellophane” video, released in 2019. In a now-deleted TikTok post, “cellophane” director Andrew Thomas Huang pointed out that both videos depict the artists ascending to heaven and subsequently twirling down a stripper pole to depths below.
In two separate posts on Instagram, both Lil Nas X and FKA twigs addressed their visually similar work. “Thank you @lilnasx for our gentle honest conversations and for acknowledging the inspiration cellophane gave you and your creative team in creating your iconic video,” twigs captioned a portrait of the rapper. “I think what you have done is amazing and I fully support your expression and bravery in pushing culture forward for the queer community…I want to thank @andrewthomashuang and @kelyvon for helping me create cellophane but also and most importantly I would like to thank sex workers and strippers for providing the physical language to make both videos possible,” she added, acknowledging the roots of pole dancing. The British singer said she has been working with SWARM, a grassroots collective, to support sex workers during the pandemic.
Nas posted a clip of twigs’ “cellophane” video to his profile, writing, “I want to say thank u to twigs for calling me and informing me about the similarities between the two videos, as I was not aware they were so close.” The rapper tagged Huang and acknowledged the work that went into bringing the video to life.