Lil Nas X made headlines this week after he announced the release of 666 pairs of “Satan shoes,” a collaborative sale project with a company called MSCHF to modify black Nike Air Max 97s to feature a pentagram, Bible verse about Satan, and a sole drop of human blood.
JUST IN: All 666 of Lil Nas X’s limited edition Satan shoes sold out in under a minute pic.twitter.com/PJv00vjaR5
— XXL Magazine (@XXL) March 29, 2021
The shoes, which received much backlash on Twitter, were inspired by the rapper’s newest song release “Montero (Call Me By Your Name).” In the raunchy, sexed-up music video accompanying the song, Lil Nas X, whose real name is Montero Lamar Hill, seduces the devil and twerks in a fiery hell featuring the same imagery and symbolism he used as inspiration for his new Satanic shoe line.
The artist, famous for his catchy pop and rap music, specifically gained popularity with younger audiences after the release of his hit song “Old Town Road,” even performing the song in a surprise show at an Ohio elementary school in 2019. His sudden success appealing to those under 18 prompted the gay artist to release a children’s book titled “C Is for Country” and make cameo appearances with Seasame Street’s Elmo and on video game platforms aimed at creating entertainment for children, such as Roblox.
NPR praised Lil Nas X’s rise to stardom with a younger audience in a January 2021 article headlined, “Lil Nas X Says Children Are His Core Audience Right Now, And That’s OK.” In the feature piece, Lil Nas X said he was comfortable appealing to his new audience because “life and careers and everything goes in chapters” and “that’s the chapter I’m in right now and I’m OK with that.”
Mere months after Lil Nas X claimed he was focused on marketing his work to kids, however, the artist doubled down on the dark, sexual messaging in his new song and shoe release with a faux apology video. In the “apology,” Lil Nas X said he knew people were upset about the Satan shoes before quickly cutting to a scene from his music video showing him giving a lap dance to Satan.
Lil Nas X furthered his unapologetic stance on the devilish content on his Twitter feed on Sunday, writing, “I literally sing about lean & adultery in old town road. u decided to let your child listen. blame yourself.”
i literally sing about lean & adultery in old town road. u decided to let your child listen. blame yourself. https://t.co/gYmTi49BqB
— nope 🏹 (@LilNasX) March 29, 2021
Source: The Federalist
