It's been a few weeks since then Lil Nas X made headlines for his controversial comeback single “J Christ,” and the singer is ready to speak candidly about the public's reception to his latest track.
During his appearance on the podcast On Purpose with Jay Shetty, the rapper explained that he felt the message of his song had been taken out of context. “[‘J Christ’] was this thing that artistically it was meant to be, I'm coming back… I'm coming back as Him, you know what I mean?' he said. “It turned into this whole thing where I was trying to dunk on Christians or something, and it was never what it was. Never.”
Lil Nas agreed with some of the backlash, saying the anger is over a video of him eating communion wafers “looks really bad on paper,” adding that he did apologize for posting this video. “This [was a] which I thought was like a fun little joke video. I also had to think about how many of my family members are Christians, like my grandmothers and stuff, and they like aunties and things like that,” she said. “And I'm like, 'Wow, do they see that too?' If they do, you know, it's really messed up. And it makes me sad.”
But the rapper said he didn't apologize for the song or music video because he stuck to his message. “That message came back and I didn't know what to do with it. It wasn't my mess anymore. He was of the world and anything anyone said was true because that's who I am as a person,” he said. “I'm this troll and I want to drive these people crazy. And so everyone can run with it. And I can't do anything about it. I can say all the things I want, but knowing my history, they look right, I look wrong.”
The interview comes after Lil Nas X spoke publicly about the release of “J Christ” on a single video he posted on his Instagram. In the original clip, the rapper explained that those online who claimed he insulted Christianity with his song were wrong. “I knew some people would be upset just because religion is a very sensitive subject for a lot of people,” he said. “But I didn't mean to make fun of—that wasn't—you Christians. I was literally saying I'm back like Jesus.”
At another point in his interview with On purpose, Lil Nas said he's now thinking about what his future releases will be like, where his music will go in the future. “You're so focused and wrapped up in what you're doing, and you push your art out into the world and it's received negatively by the majority … but then you understand why, you know, and you have to see it through,” he said. “Well, I guess that's where I'm at right now and my next move, you know, the things that I'm planning now, I feel like somewhere in here is going to be this magical moment that I can't even take credit for.”
Watch his full episode On purpose with Lil Nas X below:
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/culture/pride/lil-nas-x-explains-response-j-christ-backlash-1235591313/