There’s a reason why Lil Nas is able to run circles around the people who try to take him down: At 22 years old, he doesn’t have to adapt to digital culture; he was born into it. The rapper has been open about his days as a Nicki Minaj stan (aka “Barb”) on Twitter, admitting that he often lashed out at random accounts during his closeted teen years. But he emerged from that experience with a wicked sense of internet humor that has fueled his career every step of the way.
Even “Old Town Road,” a song which made him an overnight star in 2019, blew up thanks to Lil Nas’ decision to market the song using TikTok’s “Yee Haw Challenge.”
After his breakthrough moment in 2019, Lil Nas faced a wave of unsurprising but vile backlash as a gay, Black man in the public eye. But he took his time charting out his next big move, making sure he could be five steps ahead of his critics at all times.
By March 2021, Lil Nas burst confidently into his current era with “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” a summery track about his romance with another man. The accompanying video is a campy queer triumph, concluding with Lil Nas pole dancing down to hell and giving Satan a lap dance before seizing the throne for himself. (Taking things a step further, he also announced a limited-edition Nike “Satan Shoes,” which allegedly featured a drop of human blood — and led to litigation from the footwear giant.)
Conservative trolls immediately came out in droves, falling pitifully into the trap he had spent almost a year setting.
“I had 9 months to plan this rollout,” he tweeted in March. “Y’all are not gonna win bro.”
Looking back now, it’s so clear how right he was. When South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem responded with a Bible quote about saving our souls, he responded with a verse of his own: “Shoot a child in your mouth while I’m ridin’ – Montero 1:08.” After Nike took out a restraining order against him, he posted a non-apology photo of redesigned white Nikes sporting the logo of notoriously anti-LGBTQ company Chick-fil-A. His stans have been there to help him at every turn, defending him in mentions and promoting his music with meme jokes.
All along, the hate he’s been subjected to has only increased his streams and views (“Montero” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100), and has even laid the groundwork for his most recent single. The teaser trailer for his new song “Industry Baby” cheekily nodded to the “Satan Shoe” backlash, showing Lil Nas (who plays every character in the video) getting sentenced to prison for his queer antics. The ensuing music video finds Lil Nas ruling over Montero State Prison as men dance naked around him in a pastel-hued bank of pink showers.
