Though, in a January interview with NPR about his children's book, Lil Nas X alluded to phases of his art and fandom, saying "I'm well aware that life and careers and everything goes in chapters." While this song and video could be beneficial for queer youth seeing themselves represented, some parents are confused by his apparent move away from being a kid-friendly artist.
It's "something that I'm still processing." Williams, who is non-binary, was raised Christian and felt stressed when told how they exist and who they are is wrong. "I just really like to see queer, Black creatives expressing themselves and succeeding," Madalyn Williams, 22, of Phoenix, says. The video also showed his development as an artist and a person (and he even wrote an appreciation post for FKA twigs after similarities were pointed out between his video and hers for "Cellophane." She posted as well.) Joshua contends Lil Nas X did take back the narrative from the church and gave them a taste of their own medicine.
"So i hope u are mad, stay mad, feel the same anger you teach us to have towards ourselves." "I spent my entire teenage years hating myself because of the (expletive) y’all preached would happen to me because i was gay," he wrote on Twitter. Lil Nas X is hardly the first artist to subvert religious imagery – think everyone from Nicki Minaj to Madonna to DMX – but he's unapologetically gay, and is challenging the church. "There are plenty of Christians who are celebrating what's happening right now," Crosby says. "And even more so I feel like he's losing allies as a result of choosing that approach." "I don't feel like that we have to go that far to prove a point," Joshua, 28, says of the video. She is an organizer for a group that advocates for the LGBTQ community, women's rights and Black people's rights. Kaitlyn Joshua, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, says she was offended by his use of Christian imagery when there are allies like herself in the religious community. God will have the last word when it comes to that is all I have to say about this.- CJ Pearson March 29, 2021 People are overlooking that he defeated the devil in the video, and "they're too focused on him being a young queer man," she says.Ībout all that backlash: Nike sues Satan Shoes maker MSCHF over trademark infringement Lil Nas X responds on Twitter
Crosby, a Black queer minister from Durham, North Carolina. "What Lil Nas X did was so significant, because not only do queer kids get to say, 'Hey, there's someone who looks like me out there.' Black queer kids, and specifically Black queer boys and young men get to say 'There is someone who looks like me,'" explains Alicia T. They argue that in the video, Lil Nas X's brave statement for Black queerness takes center stage – and it could change lives for the better. In case you didn't see: Lil Nas X song, video speak to larger issue of acceptance in religion, churchīut advocates say his critics are missing the bigger picture. He played into his kid-friendly image following the release of "Old Town Road," releasing a children's picture book called "C is for Country" and joking on Twitter he was putting his Grammys in the basement to make room for his Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards trophy. Lil Nas X enamored the world with his hit "Old Town Road" but has generated intense backlash with "Montero," particularly from parents and religious people. Nike is now suing MSCHF (but not the singer himself) over trademark infringement. Lil Nas X then took it a step further when he released "Satan Shoes" with streetwear company MSCHF. Fans celebrated the queerness in the video but others felt he went too far. Social media erupted following the video's premiere Friday, which included sexually explicit biblical and Satanic imagery (he kills the devil, among other things). Lil Nas X's latest music video and song "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)" fully embrace his gay identity – though not everyone is fully embracing the Grammy-winning artist's imagery choice.