Need a couple number ones, Need a plaque on every song:
The narrative of Lil Nas X
Findings & Results
IDENTITY
Lil Nas X’s identity as a gay man was often at the forefront of discussions of him. Every publication made reference to his “sexuality” and him being “gay” or “queer” at least once within the articles looked at. Reference to Nas’s “coming out” on the last day of pride month in 2019 was also a frequent fact mentioned in articles.
Slate mentioned Nas’s sexuality the most out of all the publications examined. Genius spoke on homophobia the most.
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However, it was not just the articles focusing on this aspect of Nas’s identity, but often Nas himself. With the release of his single “Montero,” Nas posted a letter online addressed to his younger self. In the letter, Nas talks about how he had promised to never come out when he was younger, but how him doing so will “open the doors for many other queer people to just simply exist (2021, Hill).”
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It is worth noting that while some articles focused exclusively on Nas’s identity as a gay man, none focused exclusively on him being a black man. Either his sexuality was discussed alone, or it was intersected with discussion on his race. His race was never discussed on its own. Him being queer is the main aspect of his identity that the media sampled covers. Overall, the fact that he is “gay” was the aspect of his identity most heavily covered across all the publications examined.
INTERNET ICON
Nas has built a reputation for himself as an internet icon who always gets the last word and isn’t afraid to go toe-to-toe with his haters. His “clap-backs” against not just the average person, but to other celebrities and politicians are often noted. He defends himself and the queer community in a way that is equal parts comedic and eye-opening. In this way, he has set a precedent for “trolling” his haters.
This behavior often puts Nas at the center of internet controversies, but he always lands on his feet and is often painted as being in the right. His comedic responses to unwarranted criticism makes him come off as relatable and confident. This technique was also employed by Nas with a real-life controversy surrounding a lawsuit with Nike over the release of the “Satan Sneaker.”
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These sneakers were released following the “Montero” music video, which depicts Nas going to hell and crowning himself king after giving a lap dance to the devil (2021, Lil Nas X, 01:57). The sneakers contained a bronze pentagram charm and a drop of human blood (2021, Lewis). The shoes, made in partnership with MSCHF, eventually led to a lawsuit from Nike, who claimed the alterations made to the shoes caused “confusion and dilution occurring in the marketplace” (2021, Lewis). The Satan Sneaker was not the first time MSCHF had made religious themed alterations to Nikes.
In 2019, the company released “Jesus Shoes,” modified sneakers that contained holy water and a golden crucifix (2021, Lewis). The release of the Jesus Shoes did not result in a lawsuit. This is most likely because there are negative traits associated with the Devil, that are not associated with Jesus.
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In typical Lil Nas X fashion, he took the lawsuit in stride, tweeting memes about the incident, as well as an apology video that cuts after a few seconds to a clip from the “Montero” music video where he gives Satan a lap dance (2021, Lil Nas X).
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The lawsuit even made it into the Lil Nas X cinematic universe, being depicted in the promotional video for his single “Industry Baby.” The video sees Nas play not just himself, but the judge, defense and prosecution lawyers, and a jury member. After being put on trial for the Satan Sneaker, he is sentenced to “five years at Montero State Prison (2021, Lil Nas X).”
RELIGION
The music video for Lil Nas X’s single “Montero” is heavily laden with religious references, enough so to warrant its own study. Nas has been open in his reason for including the religious references and symbolism, citing the homophobia he often felt growing up going to church while gay (2021, Lil Nas X). In this sense, the music video is a way of him reclaiming the church institution that can often times harm the queer community.
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While Pitchfork did not discuss any aspect of religion in relation to Lil Nas X or his music videos, the other publications examined did. Hell and the devil were mentioned by all of those publications. The devil and hell both play empowering roles in the “Montero” music video. Nas chooses to descend to hell via stripper pole rather than enter heaven- in many ways this can be seen as a defiant act of choice. Gay people are often told they are going to hell for their sexuality, and here Nas follows through on that threat, choosing to enter hell for himself (2021, Lil Nas X). Once in hell, after giving the devil a lap dance, Nas kills him and crowns himself the new king of hell (2021, Lil Nas X, 02:19). This is another moment of empowerment, with Nas essentially becoming the new devil of his own volition, having agency in the role he takes in hell. It is not a punishment for him to be in hell, but an achievement (2021, Lil Nas X). Overall, “hell” was the aspect of religious iconography most heavily covered across all the publications examined.
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God is also mentioned by all the publications examined that discussed themes of religion. These mentions were often in reference to lyrics in Nas’s music. In “Montero,” he sings “a dime and a nine it was mine every week. What a time in my life, God was shining on me” (Lil Nas X, 2021, 01:16). The dime and a nine is a reference to Nas’s first hit, “Old Town Road,” which stayed on the Billboard charts for nineteen weeks, or “a dime (10) and (+) a nine (9).” Nas’s lyric shows how grateful he is for the success he achieved with his breakout single, truly feeling blessed to have achieved so much. The other references to God come not with his erotic and boisterous single “Montero,” but his more heartfelt and emotional single “Sun Goes Down.” In this song, Nas sings about the struggles he went through in high school, dealing with thoughts of insecurity and suicide. One verse has the lines “These gay thoughts would alway haunt me, I prayed God would take it from me” (Lil Nas X, 2021, 01:06). In many ways, this line parallels the earlier mentioned letter Nas published on Instagram addressed to his younger self prior to the release of “Montero.” Both paint an image of a quiet and ashamed Nas, a very different person than the confident and unapologetically queer Nas that we are familiar with today.
COMPARING PUBLICATIONS
Pitchfork, which is solely a music publication, did not discuss any religious aspects of Lil Nas X’s work. It did not examine how his upbringing in a conservative church influenced internalized homophobia, or how religious iconography and symbolism features in his music. Of all the publications, Slate discussed religious iconography and Nas’s sexuality the most. Only Vulture and Billboard covered Nas “clapping back” at his haters on Twitter, and both publications spoke on it an equal amount. All publications examined covered Nas coming out, the fact that he was gay/queer, and his sexuality in general. Of the publications that covered religion, all of them mentioned God, Hell, the Devil, and Nas’s “Satan Shoes.”