Lil Nas X dropped his new video and single "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)" last Friday (March 26) and many people, including Joyner Lucas, aren't feeling the Satanic-related subject matter.
On Sunday (March 28), the Massachusetts rhymer tweeted about Nas X's video, writing, "That @LilNasX video is wild but as a artist he doing everything he supposed to do. Creating viral moments, making people talk, & creating content he already knew you was going to react to. It’s a formula guaranteed to work. I doubt he actually worships the devil."
In a follow-up tweet, Joyner typed, "I think the biggest problem for me is the fact he dont understand 'old town road' is every kids anthem. Children love him for that record. They tuned in and subscribed to his channels. So with no disclaimer he just dropped some left field ish & all our kids seen it. Smh."
Lil Nas X, who has been responding to criticism surrounding his new single and its visual all weekend, replied to Joyner's tweet directly last night. The Georgia-bred artist said, "i literally sing about lean & adultery in old town road. u decided to let your child listen. blame yourself."
While Lil Nas X, whose real name is Montero Hill, hasn't explained the entire premise of "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)" in detail, he is seen in the video being lured away from what looks to be the Garden of Eden. He then falls into hell and later seductively lap dances on the devil. The devil in the video also wears a pair of Nike Air Max that are being described to have human blood on them, created by Brooklyn, N.Y.-based art collective MSCHF.
Following the release of the song and video, Nas X, who is openly gay, shared an open letter he wrote to his younger, teenage self. Apparently, his latest single is about a guy he met last summer.
"I wrote a song with out name in it," he told his Twitter followers early Friday morning. "It's about a guy I met last summer. I know we promised to never come out publicly, I know we promised to never be 'that' type of gay person, I know we promised to die with the secret, but this will open doors for many other queer people to simply exist."
Along with there being several conversations surrounding Lil Nas X's music video, there were also rumors that the 21-year-old rapper was releasing a pair of Satanic-themed sneakers with Nike, which feature a bronze pentagram, an inverted cross as well as real human blood. The black and red Air Max 97 shoe is reportedly reworked by the Brooklyn, N.Y.-based art collective MSCHF. However, according to CNN, a rep for Nike told the outlet that the company did not release the sneaker, which is reportedly going for $1,018 a pair and references Luke 10:18, which says in the Bible: "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven."
Nas X posted an "apology" video on his official YouTube page yesterday regarding the controversial sneaker, but he was actually just trolling and featured a clip from his music video.
He also seems fed up with the uproar surrounding the video. "We are in a pandemic and y’all are going on day 5 of being mad at a gay nigga who don’t do none but tweet all day," Lil Nas X tweeted early this morning.
"Montero (Call Me By Your Name)" is Lil Nas X's first single of 2021. In 2020, he dropped "Holiday" and "Rodeo" featuring Cardi B and Nas. His breakout single, "Old Town Road," came out in 2018 and was No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 19 weeks before being bested by Billie Eilish's "Bad Guy."
Check out Lil Nas X's "apology" and the actual video for his new record "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)," which has already amassed nearly 38 million views in three days, below.
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