On Monday (Jan. 15), the 24-year-old rapper addressed the backlash from the religious-themed artwork and music video for the controversial new single. The video includes the rapper portraying Jesus Christ on the crucifix. It’s definitely sparking a lot of discussion.
“I know I messed up really bad this time. I can act unbothered all I want, but it’s definitely taken a mental toll on me,” Lil Nas X said in the candid Instagram clip. “I’m not some evil demon guy trying to destroy everybody’s values and stuff like that. That’s not me.”
Lil Nas X started the video by discussing the artwork and marketing leading up to the release of “J CHRIST.” He made jokes on TikTok about releasing new gospel music independently and shared a fake acceptance letter to Christian college Liberty University on Instagram. However, the use of religious iconography drew intense criticism, with some claiming he was disrespecting Christianity.
“When I did the artwork, I knew there would be some upset people simply because religion is a very sensitive topic for a lot of people,” Lil Nas X said in Monday’s explanation clip. “But I also didn’t mean to mock — this wasn’t a f— you to the Christians. It was literally me saying I’m back like Jesus.”
Lil Nas X also said sorry for a TikTok video where he pretended to take communion.
“I know given my history with the [‘Montero (Call Me by Your Name)’] video, anything that I do related to religion can be seen as mockery,” he said. “That just was not the case with this. I will say, though, with the communion video, with me eating the crackers and juice, I thought that video was going to lighten the mood to take it down less serious. I thought that was something we all wanted to do as kids, but I didn’t understand the idea of the reality of what it is.”
