As he becomes bolder in his lyrics and creative vision, Lil Nas X begins to transcend confines of "The Gay Rapper" stereotype, carving out space for himself as an unapologetic messiah for today's young, queer generation. First teased earlier this week with in a clip of Lil Nas X parodying the Nike case only to be sentenced to prison for being gay, 'Industry Baby' has finally arrived and it's deliciously queer. Lil Nas X put up a video with a caption that reads: When you have court on Monday over the Satan Shoes and might go to jail but your label tells you to keep making TikToks. The epic Industry Baby begins with Nas being thrown in Montero State Prison, depicted as a gay fantasia filled with pink jumpsuits, dance routines in the shower, and chiseled men working out and rubbing up against each. The 22-year-old took to TikTok to post a parody video where he is seen crying while dancing to the beats of his forthcoming number Industry Baby. However, when considering Lil Nas X's career path, Montero State Prison is a setting that mirrors reality as he is repeatedly criticized by evangelical Christians and Twitter trolls alike for elevating gay representation - particularly for the prison's namesake, his last single " MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)" - it's understandable Lil Nas X would consider homophobia a prison, claustrophobic and imposing, especially in the music industry. Out music superstar Lil Nas X just released the video to his latest single off his debut album, Montero, and it’s another visual delight. Because of structural violence inherent in this country's carceral system, positioning the institution as a gay utopia is a risky choice. The song is one of his best, but its real power comes from the accompanying, highly-stylized video wherein Lil Nas X breaks out of a prison populated with Black gay men (and, for an unspecified reason, Jack Harlow in an unseemly role as the Straight White Savior who delivers a verse that is mid at best and inappropriate at worst). Lil Nas X wore multiple disguises in the teaser to play roles of the judge. His latest single, "INDUSTRY BABY," is an exercise in braggadocio a triumphant, horn-driven beat from Kanye West and Take A Daytrip backs up bars like "Couple Grammys on him, couple plaques," altogether crowning the "Old Town Road'' hitmaker king of the rap-pop crossover throne. The rapper's fictional prison sentence and the video's backstory was prefaced in a two-minute teaser released Monday. This raunchy music video takes place in a fictional prison cell and. The content of Lil Nas X’s recent Industry Baby video is often explicit, although it was understandably cleaned up and blurred out when necessary for YouTube.
Lil Nas X is unprecedented: he emerged from the depths of stan Twitter to take over the pop charts, all the while growing as an unabashedly gay rapper. On July 23, Old Town Road singer Lil Nas X released a new music video for his song Industry Baby, featuring rapper Jack Harlow.