Lil Nas X wants to set the record straight.
“I wanted to not necessarily apologize but I wanted to explain where my head’s at and where it’s been for the past week,” he said in a new Instagram video.
On Friday, the rapper released his latest single “J Christ.” In the weeks leading up to it and in the music video itself, Lil Nas X has used Christian imagery as a marketing gimmick. From the cover art, which features him on a cross, to a fake Liberty University acceptance letter, to a video where he “partakes” in communion, the rapper has not held back in making any and every religious reference possible.
To no one’s surprise, Christians didn’t take too kindly to the insincere references. Countless social media users called out the rapper for mocking their beliefs.
Now, Lil Nas X is addressing the backlash by explaining his intentions.
“First of all, when I did the artwork I knew there would be some upset people or whatnot, simply because religion is a very sensitive topic for a lot of people,” he began. “But I also didn’t mean to mock. This wasn’t a ‘f*** you’ to you people, ‘f*** you to the Christians.’ It was not that. It was literally me saying, ‘Oh, I’m back like Jesus,’ that was the whole thing.”
“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,” he continued. “And I know given my history, with the ‘Call Me By Your Name’ video, anything I do related to religion could be seen as mockery, and that was not the case with this.”
He then did apologize for a promotional video released last Thursday where he consumed communion wine and wafers.
“I will say with the communion video, with me eating the crackers and juice, I thought that video was going to be the video to lightened the mood,” he said. “I thought that was something we all wanted to do as kids, but I didn’t understand the reality of what it is. It’s me eating the communion, which is the symbolism of Jesus’ blood and bones or something like that, I don’t remember completely. I didn’t mean it as a cannibalism thing or whatever the freak… I do apologize for that, I will say I am sorry for that.”
“Though I don’t agree with all of Christianity’s rules or whatnot, I know not everybody follows Christianity by the book 100% or the world would be a lot crazier,” he continued. “But I do apologize for that. This is not to try to get everyone on my good side or whatnot, this is more so to clear my own head about my own decisions. I know I messed up really bad this time, and I can act unbothered all I want but it’s definitely taken a mental toll on me.”
If you really want to give him more attention, you can watch the full video here:
