Rapper Lil Nas X, famous for his international hit song “Old Town Road”, is being subject to an online firestorm in the wake of his “Montero” music video release on Friday. In the video, Lil Nas X is seen giving a raunchy lap dance to a CGI Satan (Shaitaan). On top of this, Lil Nas X is also selling sneakers titled “Satan Shoes” containing 60ccs of red ink, with a drop of genuine blood. Both of these instances have made the rapper a ripe target for criticism.
Lil Nas X really gave the devil a lap dance in his new video😭😭 pic.twitter.com/Fv0LJj94C2
— Debating Hip-Hop (@DebatingHipHop_) March 26, 2021
The “Montero” music video has gone viral, amassing more than 30 million views on YouTube since Friday. The video has been heavily criticized for its overt depictions of Satanism and sexual undertones. Lil Nas X himself has acknowledged these criticisms, choosing to fire back against them.
Critics of Lil Nas X focus on the fact that the rapper’s fanbase primarily consists of kids, due to the fact Lil Nas X’s viral hit “Old Town Road” was especially popular amongst kids. One particular critic posted a 2019 video of Lil Nas X performing Old Town Road for an audience of children, accusing “the system” of targeting kids. In response, Lil Nas X justified his music video, writing, “I am not gonna spend my entire career trying to cater to your children. that is your job.”
However, the comment by the rapper is at odds with his beliefs just over two months ago where, in a January 2021 interview with NPR, the rapper admitted that children were his core audience at the time and he was okay with that. The rapper is also selling a book targeted at children titled “C is for Country.” Lil Nas X has also made an appearance on The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo, a spinoff of the kid’s television show Sesame Street.
The rapper has also performed a virtual concert of the online game platform Roblox, drawing over 30 million visits to the online concert, According to Roblox itself, over half of its users are under the age of 13. Therefore, the criticism against him is not just limited to the supposed “outrageousness” of the music video he released but also consists of exposing his extremely young audience to mature themes like Satanism and LGBT sexuality. It is to be noted that Lil Nas X is an openly gay music artist.
Lil Nas X is also facing criticism for collaborating with a company named MSCHF in order to sell “Satan Shoes”. Producing exactly 666 pair of sneakers to sell, in line with “The Number of the Beast” according to the Christian Bible, the shoes also consists of a vial containing 60ccs of red ink, including a single drop of genuine blood. The shoe company Nike has already clarified that it is neither involved with designing the shoes nor endorses them.
MSCHF x Lil Nas X “Satan Shoes” 🏹
— SAINT (@saint) March 26, 2021
👟Nike Air Max ’97
🩸Contains 60cc ink and 1 drop of human blood
🗡️666 Pairs, individually numbered
💰$1,018
🗓️March 29th, 2021 pic.twitter.com/XUMA9TKGSX
Republican South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem lashed out against the sneakers in the form of a tweet. In her tweet, Noem wrote, “Our kids are being told that this kind of product is, not only okay, it’s “exclusive.” But do you know what’s more exclusive? Their God-given eternal soul. We are in a fight for the soul of our nation. We need to fight hard. And we need to fight smart. We have to win.”
ur a whole governor and u on here tweeting about some damn shoes. do ur job! https://t.co/qaor6W0B9C
— nope 🏹 (@LilNasX) March 28, 2021
In response, he wrote, “ur a whole governor and u on here tweeting about some damn shoes. do ur job!”
Recently, rapper Cardi B had come under severe criticism for a sexually explicit Grammy performance of her famous song ‘WAP’. Conservative activist Candace Owens called her a ‘cancel cell to culture’ which led to a huge online spat.
Cardi B subsequently deleted her tweets after she was accused of slander. They were also slapped with FCC complaints following the performance.