”This is my baby,” Lil Nas X declares of his upcoming September 17 release of Montero, his debut album.

That is, Lil Nas X is anticipating his first album, Montero.

Celebrating the upcoming birth of his “baby” on September 17, the 22-year-old artist staged an extravagant pregnancy photo shoot, replete with a flower crown and belly.

According to an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Lil Nas X (real nаme Montero Lamar Hill) got the inspiration to shoot the video after hearing Megan Thee Stallion’s line on his new single “Dolla Sign Slime” for the first time.

“I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is amazing,’ so I immediately called my stylist,” he recounts. “She thought, ‘Whoa, this makes sense.'” Your record. Your infant. Indeed, this is my baby, huh? I thought to myself. She was like, ‘Yeah, you should do a pregnant shoot.'”