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Lil Nas X responds to ‘Industry Baby’ controversy – the best reactions to the new single so far

WORDS Ella Jane    PHOTOGRAPHY Courtesy Instagram    PUBLISHED Mon, 26 Jul 2021 - 2:56 pm

lil nas x industry baby

Lil Nas X has once again hit the nail on the head with not only an absolute rager of a new single, Industry Baby, but a music video that is not of this earth, alongside clap backs to the controversy the music video created that never, ever miss.

If, for a perfectly valid reason you haven't seen Lil Nas X’s new Industry Baby video, prepare yourself for a feast for the eyes and ears. The Kanye West-produced track sees the rapper sentenced to five years in Montero State Prison, where he rules the school, lifts weights with Jason Momoa, and dances butt naked in a shower stall before busting free with the help of featured artist Jack Harlow.

 

Earlier last week, the artist released a teaser ahead of the video release that sees him play all the major roles in a court hearing, where he is on trial, not for his infamous Nike 'Satan Shoes', but for the fact that he is gay.

Following the single release, which was rife with horny queer references, controversy amongst the conservatives was naturally sparked. And Lil Nas X, as usual, was ready with clapbacks so acute, that Jeff Bezos could have heard them from space if he was there longer than 11 minutes.

“White corporate music execs funded a music video with Lil Nas X,  where a bunch of Black men are in prison twerking,” wrote a Twitter user. “And the lone white man, Jack Harlow, is sexually involved with a FEMALE guard. But all the Black men are sexually engaging with each other. This is progress?”

“Lemme explain,” Nas X sets the glaringly obvious record straight.,“Lil nas = gay, so he wit boy. jack harlow = straight, so he wit girl. got it??”

One since deleted Tweet made a comment on the accusation that Nas X is a “industry plant created for pure shock value”, instead of the legendary queer artists of the past like Freddy Mercury  and Elton John who just "happened to be gay." To which Nas X replied, "Many, if not all, of these artists had to hide their sexuality for majority of their career. you seem to only respect gay artists when the gay part is tucked away. you don’t like me because i embrace my sexuality instead of hiding it and never speaking on it for your comfort."

There have also been points made about the video making light of the US prison system and its unjust treatment of Black people, to which the rapper directed followers to the Bail X Fund, a collaboration with the Bail Project to help end cash bail in the US.

“On a serious note, i know the pain that incarceration brings to a family, and the disproportionate impact that cash bail has on the black community,” he writes in an announcement on Twitter. “That’s why i teamed up with @bailproject to create the Bail X Fund. let’s bring people home!”

Below, are some of Lil Nas X's best clapbacks to the haters, and some of our favourite Twitter reactions to the music video so far.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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