Lil Nas X never fails to stir up controversy with his music videos, and his latest single “J Christ” is no exception. The rapper, 24, dropped the eye-catching video after much anticipation on Friday, January 12. Given the song’s title, he couldn’t help but invoke some of Christianity’s biggest figures, including the titular Jesus and Noah, plus he played a wide array of more characters.
In one of the most intense moments in the video, Lil Nas X hung up on a cross wearing a few white robes around his waist, as well as a crown of thorns and a pair of stylish white boots. People danced around him in the clip. He played another Bible figure later, as screens warned of a massive flood. He was dressed in robes with a staff directing animals onto a raft, as a reference to Noah.
That wasn’t the only biblical imagery that the “Montero” rapper conjured up. The beginning of the clip included people walking up a stairway to heaven, and Lil Nas X played an angel, wearing a gold choker that said “Sex.” The camera then panned down to hell, where he also played a demon, presiding over a cauldron of human limbs. The next scene included him dressed as a basketball-playing angel, going one-on-one against the devil in a heavenly coliseum. He manages to score a dunk.
At other points in the video, the rapper sported a cheerleader’s outfit as he danced. He also rocked a shepherd’s clothes, as he pet a sheep. At another point, he sported a luxurious outfit in a red carpet setting, reminiscent of the Met Gala, which he’s attended twice before.
Prior to the track’s release, Lil Nas X had shared a few clips and photos from the video. Similarly to when he dropped his “Montero (Call Me By Your Name) music video, the biblical nature stirred up some controversy, and the rapper wasn’t afraid to clap back at his critics on X. “People have been recreating biblical stories for thousands of years. everybody devout christians when lil nas walk in the room tho,” he wrote to one hater.