Lil Nas X Says Nicki Minaj And Drake Turned Down Offers To Be On His Album

Lil Nas X has been one of the biggest superstars in the music industry, over the past two years. His momentum hasn't slowed down at all, ever since the massive success of his breakout hit single, "Old Town Road," featuring Billy Ray Cyrus. That record has since gone diamond, in the US.

On September 17, Nas X went on to release his debut studio album, "Montero." This project was led by the chart-topping hit singles, "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)" and "Industry Baby," featuring Jack Harlow. Industry Baby was released in August, and went on to claim the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, a month later.

The Montero single also caused a lot of controversy, due to its music video. There, the visuals displayed Nas X twerking on Satan, which confused many on social media. Despite that issue, the single as a whole, still debuted at number one, in its first week.

In a new cover story for GQ, Nas X was named one of their Men of the Year. In this story, he revealed that he had plans of adding Drake and Nicki Minaj, to the "Montero" album. The Atlanta native explained that he wasn't able to get either, though.

Nas X revealed that he initially wanted Drake on "Dolla Sign Slime," which also included Megan Thee Stallion. Nas X also originally wanted Nicki on "Industry Baby." This comes as he revealed in September that Nicki ghosted his request about a feature, for his song.

"I don’t usually ask for features like that. But for every feature I did ask for on this album, like, every single one of them worked…besides Drake and Nicki [Minaj]. I didn’t ask them directly. I wanted Nicki on 'Industry Baby,' and I wanted Drake on 'Dolla Sign Slime,' with Megan [Thee Stallion].  "Yeah, but you know, I feel like things always work out. Jack Harlow ended up being, like, the best option. I’m not sure how comfortable Nicki would have felt with that video or whatnot."

Nas X wasn't able to get Nicki and Drake, but his album still succeeded overall, and had other stars appear on it. These included Megan Thee Stallion, Doja Cat, and Elton John. Doja appeared on "Scoop," and John was on "One Of Me." Nas X and John have been working together more as of late, as both have starred together, in multiple UberEats commercials, on TV.

Nas X's debut project was highly successful, as it debuted at number two, on the Billboard 200 chart. 15 tracks were available in total, as music videos were released for almost all of them. The album rollout was interesting as well, as Nas X had a marketing plan, where he promoted himself as being "pregnant" with the album, and delivering it, on the day of the release.

In the spring, following the release of the "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)" single and music video, Nas X attempted to release his own Nike Air Max 97 "Satan Shoes." These were being sold for $1,018, but sales were halted, by Nike, thanks to a lawsuit against the distributor MSCHF.