The majority of people either love him or hate him. There is no in-between when it comes to the sensational Lil Nas X. Montero Lamar Hill, also known by his stage name Lil Nas X. Born on April 9th, 1999, in Austell, Georgia, Lil Nas X got the name “Nas” from the Twitter account @nasmaraj, a Nikki Minaj “stan” account he ran when he was a teenager. Lil Nas X is best known as an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He came to fame when his hit viral song “Old Town Road,” featuring famous country singer Billy Cyrus, blew up the Billboard charts. The song was nominated for 3 Grammys, and the newly famed singer took home 2 of those Grammys. A big contribution to Lil Nas X’s fame was the platform Tiktok. When the new song “Old Town Road” was released in 2019, the hashtag “#YeeHaw” challenge blew up on the platform, boosting the song. Lil Nas X has been seen as a respected person of fame. He has openly embraced living as a black gay man in the music industry and has made his attempts to redefine country music and make it more racially inclusive. Lil Nas X seemed to have it all – but all good things come to an end eventually. On the same platform that boosted Lil Nas X, it also tore him down, which made headlines for him.
On Wednesday, November 9th, 2023, Lil Nas X took to Twitter, stating, “Y’all mind if I enter my Christian era?” With this tweet, the rapper posted a snippet of his new religious song.
Whether or not fans were ready for this “Christian Era” of Lil Nas X, it didn’t matter. On January 12th, 2024, Lil Nas X released his music video, “J Christ.” The song had some mixed reviews from the public and the small-knit community of Wilmington Friends. For a refresher, Lil Nas X appeared in the music video in a variety of different forms. In one clip, Nas appears to be playing basketball with Satan. The most controversial moment of the music video, which sparked fans and members of society to raise their concerns, was Nas hanging from a cross.
A survey was sent out to the upper school students at WFS. Forty-nine responses were totaled. Of those responses, 83.7% of students knew of Lil Nas X, 14.3% were not sure, and 2% did not know who the singer was. Understandably, Christianity is the largest practice of faith in the WFS community, taking over 51% of the responses. Of the forty-nine responses, four students are atheists and seven students are agnostics. The survey asked, “How does Lil Nas X’s performance in his song “J Christ” make you feel?” Understandably, the majority of the Christian students had a problem with the blasphemous music video. A seventeen-year-old Christian student said, “I don’t like it because it’s a clear mockery of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I hadn’t heard about the song until just now, but I’m certain that I would have heard about it sooner if it was a mockery of another religion.” On the other hand, a seventeen-year-old Christian student said, “He can do what he wants.”
Ana Pardo, ’24, had a serious stance on the topic. Pardo said, “The whole concept of Lil Nas X pretending to be Jesus is already extremely disrespectful to the Christian faith. Galatians 6:7 says, “Do not be deceived; God is not mocked.” Pardo continues, “What is most sad to me is that I haven’t heard anyone talking about Lil Nas X’s song. I feel as though the mockery of Christianity is very normalized in this society, and it shouldn’t be.” Looking at this topic from an adult perspective, a Christian Friend’s community member said, “The way you treat people says a lot about what you believe and in whom you believe.”