Lil Nas X Denies He Is Mocking Jesus and Dissing Christianity in ‘J Christ’ Video
Lil Nas X is denying he is mocking Jesus and dissing Christianity in his new "J Christ" video.
Lil Nas X Responds to Backlash for "J Christ" Video
On Monday (Jan. 15), Lil Nas X hopped on Instagram and shared a video post in response to the backlash he received for his new "J Christ" video, which shows him depicted as Jesus and other figures from the Bible.
"I wanted to, not necessarily apologize, but I wanted to explain where my head at and where it’s been for like the last week," Lil Nas X says in the video below. "First of all, when I did the artwork, I knew there would be some upset people and what not. Simply because, you know, religion is a very sensitive topic for a lot of people. But I also didn’t mean to mock. This wasn’t like a 'F**k you' to you people, 'F**k you' to the Christians. I was not that. It was literally me saying, 'Oh, I’m back. I’m back like Jesus.' That was the whole thing."
Nas X continues: "I’m not the first person to dress up as Jesus, I’m not the first rapper, I’m not the first artist and I won’t be the last. I know, given my history with the 'Call Me by Your Name' video, anything that I do related to religion can be seen like mockery. That was not the case with this."
The "Old Town Road" rapper went on to apologize for the communion scene in the video, and said his explanation was done to clear his own head.
“I’m not like some evil demon guy trying to destroy everybody’s values," he adds. "That’s not me. Also with the video, there’s no disrespect there. I thought me clearly not being on the side of the devil in that video was the... I don’t know, there was understanding there that I’m not like trying to diss Christianity. This is something off the top of my head I’m trying to get out. Lastly, again, I hope sooner or later we can move forward. I’m excited for the rest of this era and things I have planned."
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Lil Nas X Enters "Christian Era"
Lil Nas X first announced he would be dropping a "Christian" song in November of 2023.
"Y’all mind if i enter my christian era?" Lil Nas X asked in the caption of a clip of the song he shared on X, formerly known as Twitter.
After being called out for using religion as his next gimmick, the openly-gay rapper responded to the backlash, "Y’all see everything i do as a gimmick. When in reality im just an artist expressing myself in different ways. whether im a cowboy, gay, satanic, or now christian y’all find a problem! y’all don’t police nobody else art like mine. y’all hate me because im fun cute and petite."
Nas X released the song and video for "J Christ" on Jan. 12. The visual finds Nas X playing multiple figures from the Bible including Noah and Jesus Christ on the crucifix.
"Back-back-back up out the gravesite/B***h, I'm back like J Christ," he raps on the track. "I'm finna get the gays hyped/I'm finna take it yay-high."
Following the song and video's release, Nas X faced more backlash from Boosie BadAzz, Christian rapper Lecrae and others.
Read More: 12 Unique Ways Rappers Have Portrayed Jesus Christ
See video of Lil Nas X responding to backlash he received for his new single "J Christ" below.