Accomplished hip-hop trickster Lil Nas After all the complaints about devil worship which were thrown away during the deployment of his last project, Monterohe apparently adopted a malicious compliance policy, go to the other extreme with a “holy man“A character who has the exact same demographic calling for his head again – big surprise, right?
The accusations against him this time are that he is “making fun of” Christians – that is, the same people who spent a year throwing him under the bus because of his method of expression (not to mention his sexuality). While Nas accepts that his troll reputation somewhat requires that its actions be take with a heavy grain of salthe also denies that the purpose of this deployment is to upset his biggest critics – at least, not only.
But even looking at the images he shared at face value, it’s hard to say he’s making fun of anything. He is right ; his reputation led to this interpretation more than anything he shared about the new direction his visuals were taking. By presenting himself as the subject of reproductions of well-known works of art – works that certainly have religious connotations, even if they are inaccurate – he has, however, much more to say than sticking his tongue out at his religious adversaries.
First of all, it seems we need some art history lessons. Just like when Doja Cat had to explain the The 15th century inspirations behind his tattoos Last year, it seemed like adding a little context could explain why so many people were up in arms about Nas’ promotional artwork. The unique cover, which depicts Nas being crucifiedis a clear reference to tons of Renaissance-era depictions of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ in the Bible, but it’s not like those depictions were strictly accurate.
the crazy thing is nowhere in the photo, it’s a mockery of Jesus. The image of Jesus is used throughout history in the art of people around the world. I don’t make fun of shit. you just need to stop trying to control a religion that existed here before any of us were born. stfu
– ✟ (@LilNasX) January 8, 2024
In fact, depictions of Christ have been controversial throughout history, with some traditions banning them outright. The Renaissance works from which we have derived most of our modern understanding of religious imagery were commissioned by the Roman Catholic Church in the 15th and 16th centuries, long after anyone could have known what the historical Jesus would have looked like . Nas reproduces these images, certainly, but more to express his appreciation of Renaissance art than to mock certain ones – for example, the cover of his No. 1 single “”Montero (Call me by your name)“was inspired by Michelangelo The Creation of Adamwhich adorns the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
Likewise, Nas is far from the first artist to reproduce famous Renaissance depictions of Christ and similar iconography in his work. Before pop matron Madonna wore grills and rags, she irritated conservative thinkers with videos for songs like “Like a prayer”, which juxtaposes crucifixes with sexual images, evoking the Church’s long and thorny entanglement with the subject of sex. Former rapper Nas depicted himself being crucified – a fairly common execution practice during the Roman Empire, it should be noted – in his video for “Hate me now.”
As fans on Twitter have pointed out, artists ranging from Kanye West to DaBaby to Tupac to Kendrick Lamar have all incorporated aspects of these well-known symbols into the presentation and promotion of their art – symbols that have, again, were invented at least in their general aspects by artists who lived more than 1,000 years after the events imagined in their work. Likewise, contrary to the complaints made against Lil Nas X, these works of a religious nature are far from being the only ones. classic works of art that modern artists have reproduced or referenced to sell their music.
As for why it might seem that way, well, it’s probably because these are the most ubiquitous works in Western culture. After all, it’s not like there are toy advertisements disguised as children’s cartoons, name-checking the most famous artists from West Africa or East Asia. Much like some of these early Christian traditions, some religions outright forbid the depiction of their most sacred figures – why do you think no one ever dressed up as Muhammad for Halloween?
While Lil Nas Although part of this can probably be attributed to his reputation as a troll, with people interpreting everything he does as mockery. something, it is obvious that much of this comes from religion’s inability to accommodate homosexuality as a concept. The sad thing is that, like the Renaissance imagery Nas appropriates for his promotional campaigns, homophobia is not intrinsic to Christianity either. But that’s a conversation for another day.
