By now, we should all know that Lil Nas X doesn’t beat around the bush when it comes to creating controversial videos with really gorgeous and sexy visuals. Almost three years ago, people from religious backgrounds wanted to boycott the singer for his Adam-and-Eve-inspired video “Montero,” in which he appears making a sexy lap dance to the devil.
It seems it wasn’t enough, and he’s ready to stir a bit more of controversy with his new single “J Christ,” which he meant to “dedicate to the man who had the greatest comeback of all time.” Captioning the announcement is a very artistic photo of Nas nailed to a cross while five people are pulling him up with ropes.
https://www.instagram.com/p/C12JhLMOXsm/
The single will likely be part of his upcoming album, and the video will likely fuel a lot of debate just as “Montero” did a couple of years ago. However, beyond the past song with the lap dance, Lil Nas X has been hinting at a kind of religion-inspired album since last year. Only this past November he posted on X: “Y’all mind if I enter y Christian era?”
However, unlike what many could think, the rapper has assured fans he’s not mocking Jesus Christ or religion per se. As he sees it, religious imagery is one of the greatest themes in art, and he wants to become a part of the tradition. He explained it a couple of hours after announcing the release of his new song:
“Y’all see everything I do as a gimmick. When in reality I’m just an artist expressing myself in different ways. Whether I’m a cowboy, gay, satanic, or now Christian y’all find a problem! Y’all don’t police nobody else art like mine. Y’all hate me because I’m fun cute and petite.”
He added: “The crazy thing is nowhere in the picture is a mockery of Jesus. Jesus’s image is used throughout history in people’s art all over the world. I’m not making fun of s***. yall just gotta stop trying to gatekeep a religion that was here before any of us were even born. STFU.”
The racy and blunt image already has Netizens debating whether this is a publicity stunt, a blatant provocation, or as he sees it, a true work of art. What we know for sure is that the artwork of “J Christ” was beautifully done and that Lil Nas X has a very good eye for art, as he’s proven in the past years. Guess, we’ll see if he makes the world burn next January 12 when “J Christ” is released!
