Sonic Scope: New Approaches to Audiovisual Culture - Quare(-in) the Mainstream: Deconstructing New Media in Lil Nas X’s MONTERO

Sep 22, 2026

This video essay examines how Lil Nas X’s debut album MONTERO (2021) exploits intertextual, post-media possibilities of new media platforms to intervene in gender fluidity and race dynamics. Grounded in New Queer Cinema (NQC), it critiques B. Ruby Rich’s claim about NQC’s shift to the mainstream. Using “quare theory,” it argues that MONTERO collates NQC practices across platforms, amplifying media swirl, transmedia, and remediation, and enabling radical queer expressions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryPresentations

FormatPDF

Pages22

Reading Time8 min

AccessFree to download

Commentary

Introduction

Theoretical Background

Sonic Scope: New Approaches to Audiovisual Culture Quare(-in) the Mainstream: Deconstructing New Media in Lil Nas X’s MONTERO Emily Thomas Published on: Jul 08, 2022 URL: [https://www.sonicscope.org/pub/wgczbm4b](https://www.sonicscope.org/pub/wgczbm4b) License: Creative Commons Attribution 4 .0 International License (CC-BY 4 .0) ABSTRACT Quare(-in) the Mainstream: Deconstructing New Media in Lil Nas X’s MONTERO Emily Thomas, Goldsmiths, University of London This video essay explores how Lil Nas X ’s debut album MONTERO (2021) uses the intertextual, post-media possibilities of new media platforms to produce a daring intervention into the dynamics of gender fluidity and race. Contributing to research on New Queer Cinema (NQC), it critiques B. Ruby Rich ’s assertion that NQC ’s shift from outsider to mainstream cinema has resulted in the demise of its boundary-pushing elements. Instead, it suggests that with MONTERO, Lil Nas X has collated NQC ’s practices across new media platforms to enable new, radical expressions of gender and race to arise. This project considers Lil Nas X ’s work through the lens of “quare theory,” a theory coined by E. Patrick Johnson which specifically centres the lived experiences of black LGBTQIA+ people.1 Following an examination of the theoretical and historical context surrounding Lil Nas X, MONTERO, and NQC, I argue that the theorisations underpinning MONTERO, such as the media swirl, transmedia andremediation amplify the album ’s NQC characteristics. I also consider the myriad ways by which Lil Nas X is feeding into a bigger cultural rupture, wherein other mainstream artists are cultivating quare spaces and assimilating NQC ’s ideologies into popular culture. The video essay concludes by suggesting Rich ’s stance on NQC ’s position in the mainstream ought to be reconsidered, due to the exemplary “quare-ing ” of the mainstream exhibited in Lil Nas X ’s MONTERO. Video Essay Commentary Introduction Scholars from many disciplines have typically overlooked the importance of an intersectional approach to queer studies. Instead, studies have tended to focus on heteronormative, white queer normativity, and have excluded nuanced identities across race, gender and class.2 Romeo Jackson, Alex C. Lange and Antonio Duran, for instance, discovered that the dominance of whiteness is “emblematic” of LGBTQIA+ academic research, wherein a “dangerous pattern” results in anti-blackness and settler colonialism going unnamed.3 To bypass these pitfalls, this project explores Lil Nas X’s debut album MONTERO (2021) through a “quare” lens, as the term critiques what E. Patrick Johnson refers to as “stable notions of identity” and thereby accommodates Lil Nas X’s nuanced, multiple marginalised experiences as a gay, black man.4 Rather than showcasing what B. Ruby Rich has coined the “cuddlier” and “squeaky clean” LGBTQIA+ identities in popular culture, Lil Nas X has used the new media landscape to subvert typical systems of oppression.5 His work has had a dramatic impact on the LGBTQIA+ community, as exemplified by the Trevor Project’s decision to honour him with the 2021 “Suicide Prevention of the Year Award” for his “openness about struggling with his sexuality and suicidal ideation,” “advocacy around mental health issues” and “unapologetic celebration of his queer identity.”6 As such, an investigation considering what can happen if New Queer Cinema (NQC) is positioned away from the fixed form of cinema and placed into the overlapping simultaneities of new media is an important contribution to this field of study. By highlighting how this project came to fruition, this exegesis will critically assess the project’s theoretical and methodological contexts, and suggest some potential areas for future research. As the primary objective of this research considers how Lil Nas X’s MONTERO used new media torefashion NQC practices for contemporary, Gen Z audiences, the chosen creative research method refle

FAQs

What core question does the video essay investigate about MONTERO?

How Lil Nas X’s MONTERO uses new media to refashion New Queer Cinema practices for contemporary Gen Z audiences.

Which theoretical lens guides the project?

“Quare theory,” a framework coined by E. Patrick Johnson that centers the lived experiences of black LGBTQIA+ people.

How does the essay respond to B. Ruby Rich’s view of New Queer Cinema?

It suggests Rich’s stance on NQC’s position in the mainstream should be reconsidered because MONTERO demonstrates “quare-ing” of the mainstream.

Sep 22, 2026

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