Lil Nas X’s Hit ‘Industry Baby’ Would Have Sounded Wildly Different With The Artist He Originally Wanted

Last week, Lil Nas X revealed the two artists he was unable to secure features from on his debut album Montero. The first, Drake, was unable to participate as he was putting the finishing touches on his own album, Certified Lover Boy. Nas says he’d wanted Drake on “Dolla Sign Slime”; instead, Megan Thee Stallion filled in admirably. However, Nas never did reveal which song he wanted Nicki on, which would have been a coup for a former member of her hardcore stan army, The Barbz. He said she never responded to his requests.

Today, though, during a Twitter Q&A to support his album, Nas solved the mystery for his curious fellow Barbz. When he was asked which song from the album he originally sent to Nicki Minaj, he didn’t hesitate to answer: “Industry Baby,” the Daytrip-produced, Kanye West-assisted, Jack Harlow-featuring megahit that is currently burning up the airwaves and terrorizing Lil Boosie’s dreams.

Admittedly, it could have resulted in a wildly different, yet more organic sounding collaboration — while Jack’s part in the video would probably have played a lot differently with Minaj in his place. However, Jack acquitted himself pretty well and has been a good sport about the video’s content, even going as far as saying he wouldn’t mind reshooting the infamous shower scene.

As to why Nicki never got back to Nas: that remains a mystery, although she had plenty of reasons, from just recently becoming a mother to battling a harassment lawsuit as her husband Kenneth faced trial for failing to register as a sex offender when the couple moved to California. She also wouldn’t have had much time to promote the record thanks to “Ball-gate” and its resulting backlash. Perhaps when the dust settles, we’ll hear a remix, which has been her M.O. of late, helping Doja Cat’s “Say So” go No. 1 on the Hot 100 chart.

Montero is out now on Columbia.