Lil Nas X releases new track ‘Late to Da Party’ slamming BET after awards show snub

Track includes an explicit message directed to the entertainment company

Lil Nas X has released a new track expressing his feelings toward BET after he failed to receive a nomination for this year’s BET Awards.

The song, titled “Late to Da Party”, features fellow rap artist YoungBoy Never Broke Again and opens with him repeating the phrase: “F**k BET”.

The single’s cover art also shows a BET Award trophy being urinated on in a toilet.

The rapper was not among the list of BET Award nominees when the list was announced on 1 June. With the organisation’s acronym standing for Black Entertainment Television, the ceremony mostly highlights Black artists across several genres.

The “Old Town Road” singer, along with many fans online, was surprised at his lack of inclusion in this year’s ceremony.

“Thank you BET awards. An outstanding zero nominations again. Black excellence!” he tweeted in response, before eventually deleting his message.

Lil Nas X’s debut album, Montero, was a popular and critically acclaimed release in 2021, spurning singles such as “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)” and “Industry Baby”.

Lil Nas X at the 2021 BET Awards (Getty Images for BET)

When Lil Nas X – real name Montero Lamar Hill – performed at last year’s BET Awards, his time on stage included a same-sex kiss.

Though he won’t be attending the awards this year, set to be held on Sunday (26 June) in LA, the rapper’s accompanying music video shows him crashing into the ceremony in a flying car.

Earlier this month, he teased some lines from the song with a snippet posted on social media.

Along with this, he explained that his feelings of discontent were not about the awards themselves, but more about his exclusion being an example of homophobia in the Black community.

“This not over no BET award,” he wrote on Twitter. “This is about the bigger problem of homophobia in the Black community. Y’all can sit and pretend all u want but imma risk it all for us.”

Soon after Lil Nas X’s tweets, BET issued an official statement, saying: “We love Lil Nas X. He was nominated for a Best New Artist BET Award in 2020 and we proudly showcased his extraordinary talent and creativity on the show twice.

“Unfortunately, this year, he was not nominated by BET’s Voting Academy, which is comprised of an esteemed group of nearly 500 entertainment professionals in the fields of music, television, film, digital marketing, sports journalism, public relations, influencers, and creative arts.”

The Independent has reached out to a spokesperson at BET for comment.