Lil Nas X took to Twitter on Tuesday to say his number one song ‘Montero (Call Me By Your Name)’ is being pulled from streaming sites in some countries.
not even joking. everybody stream call me by your name hard today because it may no longer be available tomorrow and there’s nothing i can really do about it. thanks for all the support tho! ?
— ☆ (@LilNasX) April 13, 2021
There is some confusion around why this has occurred and in which countries, or even if it has occurred at all. However, Columbia Records acknowledged the issue and released a statement which reads, “Thanks for all your comments regarding @LilNasX “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” It’s unfortunately out of our control but we are doing everything possible to keep the song up on streaming services. We will keep you up to date as we hear more. Thank you for understanding.”
Fans screen recorded themselves unable to listen to the song and inundated Lil Nas X with the evidence. However, Billboard claimed that the song is not being removed which led to some Twitter users questioning if it was just a ploy to boost streaming numbers.
Not that Lil Nas X needs a boost as he is already the current number one most streamed song on Spotify in the last week and has reached number one in numerous countries worldwide, including in Ireland and the US. Even Saudi Arabia, a country known for its homophobic laws, has ‘Call Me By Your Name’ at the top of the charts on Apple Music.
https://twitter.com/anth0tty/status/1382029725837582336
In classic Lil Nas X fashion, he moved to assuage fans’ fears by promising to put his song on Pornhub so people could continue streaming it.
We are honored to join @LilNasX in the fiery pits of hell and host his summer banger on Pornhub. We are a platform that celebrates free speech and we welcome artists to share their work and express themselves. https://t.co/dMWV19LH3g
— Pornhub (@Pornhub) April 14, 2021
This is just the latest in a line of controversies that, intentionally or otherwise, have surrounded the song. ‘Montero (Call Me By Your Name)’ was propelled to instant hit status on the back of outrage from American conservatives over the music video which saw Lil Nas X pole dance into hell and give a lap dance to the devil while singing about the joys of gay sex.
He also released a line of ‘Satan shoes’ to coincide with the single which also went down about as well as you would expect with the conservative right. At the time of writing the song was available to stream on all major sites in Ireland.
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