By AMEARA DITSCHE
Arts Editor
Musical Artist Lil Nas X has sparked outrage for apparently promoting Satanism with the imagery in his latest music video. Not only did the video partially take place in hell, with a lewd cameo by Satan, but Lil Nas X found himself in hotter water with the release of custom Nike Air Maxes. He designed the shoes with a small Brooklyn design company called MSCHF and 666 pairs were created to be sold. However, after the shoes evoked negative feedback, Nike made a statement confirming they were not a part of the design and even took it so far as to pursue a lawsuit, which they won. There has now been a restraining order on the sale of shoes. The shoes went viral after it was revealed the soles of the shoe each contained a drop of human blood. About six members of the MSCHF team donated the blood themselves—with no medical interference— a team member told The New York Times.
The shows are based off of the ones Satan is wearing in the music video. The song “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)” is about growing up and discovering his sexuality. Lil Nas X has said on Twitter that the song is about having gay sex.
The music video starts out with ethereal imagery in pastel colors, panning past animated Greek ruins in a whimsical world full of fantasy creatures. Angelic and heavenly imagery denotes the beginning as we meet Lil Nas X strumming a guitar against a tree. Eventually he is joined by a humanoid reptilian creature and the artist pole dances to hell. In Hell, he meets Satan and gives him a lap dance.
The settings of the music video represent Lil Nas X’s journey of self discoveration through the lens of his sexuality. In the video, even though he does nothing wrong, he is sent to hell. In real life, he is just gay and while he is only living his life and loving, some see it as a sinful hellish act. People want to send him to hell but are also angry seeing him there.
On the internet, some people, mainly Christian conservatives, have voiced distaste in the artists promotion of the ideology. But, can we really blame him? The song is about growing up gay, another act that many Christians condemn and often shun youth for. The falling from heaven to hell symbolizes Lil Nas X finding himself and becoming comfortable with his identity in spite of the fact some believe it will land him a spot in hell. The people complaining about his romanticization of hell are the same ones who have been telling him he’s inevitably going there. Christian’s want to own hell without being associated with it. Lil Nas X is critiquing a religion that has oppressed him. If the Westboro Baptist Church can say “F**s go to hell” why Lil Nas X can’t make it a good time?
This is not the first time a Black man has been criticized more harshly for something so harmless. Men are expected to be tough and not let themselves be vulnerable, this standard is doubly forced on black men. They are dehumanised where white men are celebrated. If Harry Styles made a music video where he became king of hell, it would be turned into a gif your aunt would use on facebook. Lil Nas X is often criticised for jumping from genre to genre, but why can’t he create a diverse discography and explore his avenues as an artist? He never claimed to be a rapper, people just pigeonhole him as one. Black men are held to a higher standard of masculinity and as a result are discouraged from expressing femininity in any way. Rapper Young Thug wore a dress on the cover of his 2016 album “Jeffrey” and received more hate than praise.
These justifications for Lil Nas X’s expression make it especially disappointing that he faced not only social backlash, but financial as well at the hands of Nike. It is not a foriegn concept at all to sell customized shoes online. Several artists use Nike’s ubiquitous simple shoes to display their art. Nike chose this instance to take a stance so they could protect their sales when they saw outcry. The move was a poor choice that seems selfish given the political climate. Lil Nas X is a master at expressing himself in ways that garner attention. His campy outfits and provocative videos solidify his spot in the limelight. He is using public outcry to his advantage and doing so gracefully. He isn’t attacking anyone, just existing .as himself comfortably.
