Lil Nas X has hit back at social media users who have criticized the Christian-inspired artwork for his latest single.
Last Monday, Lil Nas X announced that he would be making a comeback to the music scene, dropping his latest single titled 'J Christ' after taking a break ever since his last single 'Star Walkin', which was released back in 2022.
Dedicated to the "man who had the greatest comeback of all time", Nas released the song's official artwork, which depicted the star being hoisted up on a cross, much like Jesus Christ. Not only that, but he also posted a teaser that showed him nailed to a cross which then magically transforms into a golden robot.
Have a look at the teasers below:As you can imagine, with provocative content like that, you're bound to face some strong backlash as the 24-year-old experienced over the week.
"So it’s completely ok for Lil Nas X to mock Jesus now?" wrote one user.
"Christians, this is a wake up call. Defend your religion. Lil Nas X has no talent, and no worth. How do you let him mock your religion time and time again?" added another.
"Religion is not cosplay. This is wrong on so many levels I can’t even begin to list them," a third commented.
However, others jumped in to defend the star.
"Imagine telling Lil Nas X that he’s not allowed to use the iconography of the world’s largest religion, that shaped the western culture and informed ALL of the western art, to express himself, like ALL western artists have been doing for the past couple of millenia," wrote this social media user.
And this person also agreed, stating: "Since he came out as gay, y’all crucify Lil’ Nas X for breathing. I’ve seen more chatter about him being nailed to the cross than when Da Baby recently did it.. Y’all hyped up Kanye West so much, he believe he is Jesus.. Y’all forgot the initial “Yeezus” album cover? I’m sleep..."
In the wake of all the controversy, Nas decided to address the haters in a tweet posted to X, formerly Twitter.
"The crazy thing is nowhere in the picture is a mockery of jesus. Jesus’s image is used throughout history in people’s art all over the world. I’m not making fun of s***. yall just gotta stop trying to gatekeep a religion that was here before any of us were even born. Stfu."
Regardless of the backlash, the 'Old Town Road' hitmaker dropped the official music video for the track three days ago (January 12) on YouTube and it has already been viewed over five million times and is trending in 4th place in the platform's overall music category.
The pop-rap track was co-written by Lil Nas X with Omer Fedi, Mike Levy [Gesaffelstein], and Blake Slatkin, with the music video being also produced by Fedi, Gesaffelstein, and Lil Nas X.
'J Christ' is now available to stream on multiple platforms including Apple Music and Spotify.