Lil Nas X Details Where His Birth Name Came From

Lil Nas X appeared virtually on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and when asked what he should be called by the late-night host Nas X said, “Lil Nas X or Montero.”

Fallon, thinking “Montero” was a cool name, asked Nas X why he didn’t use it as his stage name, “When I started doing music, I was like, ‘I want to have fun with this,” Nas X said. “And every new rapper’s name is Lil, Lil, Lil. ‘What if I was Lil Nas? That’d be funny.’ So I was like, ‘Alright, bet. I’ll be Lil Nas.’ And I added the X later on.”

When asked where his real name came from Nas X says that story is a little embarrassing.

“So my mom wanted the car, the [Mitsubishi] Montero, and she never got one … So yeah, I’m named after a car,” laughed Nas X.