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Lil Nas X is creating waves once again with the release of his new single, J CHRIST. The artist took to his social media to announce the song's release with an accompanying music video, sparking wild reactions among fans and critics.
The music video allegedly showcases celebrity look-alikes of renowned figures, including Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Kanye West, Barack Obama, and more. The video begins with the alleged lookalikes dressed in all white traversing a large green field towards a stairway that ascends to the gates of heaven.
The video also features scenes of Lil Nax X playing basketball with Satan, recreating Jesus' crucifixion as well as shots that draw similarities to the arc of Noah. All these references point toward the rapper's previous statements of entering his "Christian Era".
With the song's official release, social media has been set ablaze with reviews from fans and harsh criticisms from Christian conservatives he seemingly offended with his latest release.
"Oh boy this should be interesting": Fans react to Lil Nas X's new music video
January 12, 2024, marks the day Lil Nas X officially returned with the release of his first single J Christ. The rapper's last release was in 2021 with the highly criticized yet successful album Montero, which heavily referenced satanic elements throughout the album's videography.
The Montero rapper seems to have taken a completely different approach to the new album, shocking fans with an artistic approach to Christian ideologies. The unpredictable move caused him to receive quite a lot of backlash.
With the music video now released, fans finally get their first look at what the rapper meant by "Christian Era", with many taking to social media to share their opinion of the new Lil Nas X song.
Here's how netizens have been reacting:
Many critics and Christian conservatives slammed the rapper's artistic choice to involve Christian elements in his music, calling him out for disrespecting the religion.
Take a look below at how netizens have criticized the latest song:
Although Lil Nas X is facing severe backlash from an affected community, fans have been quick to drown out the hate with love and admiration for the rapper and his latest release.
Many fans have been reposting the song and blowing up Lil Nas X's feed with support and excitement. Check out here:
The music video ends with a Corinthians extract from the bible, reading, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; Behold, the new has come. - 2 Corinthians 5:17”.
Heavily hinting at what the rapper has in store for us with this new version of himself. With the music video already garnering over 145,000 views a couple of hours into its release on YouTube, it seems Lil Nas X might just have another hit to complement his current discography.
Lil Nas X deals with online backlash as he hints at his new "Christianity Era" in recent posts
On January 8, 2024, Lil Nas X officially announced his new single, J Christ, to be released on Friday (January 12). This announcement featured cover art of the rapper, portraying himself taking Jesus' place on a crucifix with bystanders raising him off the ground.
In his announcement, the rapper declared:
"MY NEW SINGLE IS DEDICATED TO THE MAN WHO HAD THE GREATEST COMEBACK OF ALL TIME."
This post was the first to receive a string of backlash the rapper would face over the coming days leading up to the single's release, with many criticizing the rapper for allegedly disrespecting and making a mockery of Christianity.
Lil Nas X was quick to respond on X to all the backlash he was facing, by stating:
"Jesus’s image is used throughout history in people’s art all over the world. I’m not making fun of shit. yall just gotta stop trying to gatekeep a religion that was here before any of us were even born."
On January 10, the rapper would address the increase in criticism by urging viewers to not judge everything at face value but to try and understand the underlying meanings behind his visuals. He posted on X:
"The problem is y’all judge everything at face value. i’ve never released a visual without an underlying meaning and y’all know that. but since i’m a troll y’all discount my art as just pissing ppl off."
The following day he posted a trailer for the J Christ music video on all his social media pages. The teaser showcased the first 20 seconds of the video, which garnered high levels of attention online.
Fans were quick to point out the supposed resemblances between the featured background actors and well-known personalities such as Kanye West, Oprah Winfrey, Barack Obama, Mariah Carey, and others in the teased preview.
With the song and video now released, Lil Nas X continues to captivate audiences with attention-grabbing antics from re-creating the crucifixion of Jesus to reposting harsh criticisms on his X feed.
His viral marketing mastery, showcased since his breakout hit Old Town Road, remains a defining feature of this latest rollout.
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