Lil Nas X Saves His Younger Self In Emotional 'Sun Goes Down' Music Video

Immediately after sliding down a stripper pole to hell, then seducing and dethroning Satan in the music video for “Montero (Call Me by Your Name),” a flamenco-rooted banger that sent the world wide web and conservative pundits into chaotic frenzies for its controversial imagery, Lil Nas X is back with another cinematic visual. And this one’s his most personalized yet.


On Friday (May 21), Lil Nas X dropped “Sun Goes Down,” a somber track that reflects on the artist’s past struggles coming to terms with his sexuality and identity as a gay man. The track spotlights a slow-whining guitar plucking that lends the composition a melancholic sound, over which Nas X sings: “I wanna run away / Don't wanna lie, I don't want a life." The string elements resemble that of “Montero,” which was mastered by the same team, including Take A Daytrip, Roy Lenzo, and Omer Fedi, the producer in back of the pop-punk patinas of artists like 24kGoldn and Machine Gun Kelly.


The visual is identically reflective, starting with today’s Nas X sitting in a meditative state, floating above a pool of water. He watches visions of past performances and award-show appearances before being sent back to a time whenever he still worked at a Taco Bell franchise. There’s a cameo from his actual father, R. L. Stafford, who drives him house from work, plus a reimagining of his high school bedroom. The clip culminates with an emotional prom scene. It begins out lonely, with Nas X surveying the dance floor alone as other couples slow-dance in pairs. At this point, he escapes to a washroom stall to cry. Nevertheless immediately after some encouragement from his future self, he rejoins the party. The visual was directed by the artist himself in teamwork with Psycho Films.


It’s a hard pivot from the fast-tweeting, bop-slinging Lil Nas X that entered pop culture with the wild success of “Old Town Road,” showing a different side of the singer and letting listeners into his life. “In the “sun goes down” video I go back in time to visit a younger version self who’s struggling indoors, hating himself, & doesn’t aspire to live anymore,” he wrote on Twitter ahead of the song’s release. “I try my best to uplift him.” This weekend, Lil Nas X will be the musical guest on Saturday Night Live in a two-part set that will probably include “Montero” and “Sun Goes Down.” Next month, on June 4, he is going to perform at the Can’t Cancel Pride virtual concert benefiting the LGBTQ+ community and also Demi Lovato, Hayley Kiyoko, Troye Sivan, and more.