Welcome to Montero
graphic by jenny Katz
Welcome to hell and magical stripper poles! Lil Nas X’s latest song, “Montero,” and its music video take us along the artist’s story about being queer and struggling with hate throughout his life. Although there has been plenty of support and pole dancing memes from the internet community, there has also been an insane amount of controversy about the biblical references in the video as well as in the artist’s subsequent release of his new line of footwear, Satan Shoes.
But is the song really that bad? It might not have been what we expected, but it’s definitely what we needed.
If you’ve been living in the dark and somehow not seen it, the music video opens to Lil Nas X in the garden of Eden and eventually eating “the forbidden fruit” of another man. The song follows him to his final judgment, where he is tried for the crime of being true to himself, and then the artist’s ascension into heaven. Before he reaches the “golden gates,” Lil Nas X grabs the shaft (and yes, I do mean shaft) of a stripper pole and slides down to hell just as the beat drops. The song is a reference to Lil Nas X’s past self and his mindset about his sexuality as shaped by society.
Shittily enough, being queer is frequently seen as a sin for many people in the conservative religious community, which is why the singer compared it to the biblical tale of Eve and man’s first sin. It is not uncommon for a homophobe to tell a queer person that they’re going to hell. For some people in the LGBTQ+ community, it’s affected them deeply to have relatives, and the people that they trust say comments like this to their faces. However, Lil Nas X uses his song and video as a huge “f**k you” to anyone who has ever said this to him. He basically says to be proud of who you are regardless of what others think, which has already inspired so many within the LGBTQ+ community.
Along with the music video, Lil Nas X also released a new line of footwear, called Satan Shoes. His collaboration with a Brooklyn art collective, MSCHF, has several different satanic references interlaced in the custom-designed Nike Air Max 97s. Yet the thing most talked about is the single drop of human blood (yes, real human blood) in the shoe’s soles.
Soooo many people have either complained or been offended by the sneakers, including a lawsuit that Nike filed against MSCHF. While the shoes are not officially made by the athletic retail company, the classic swoosh logo stands out against the red and black material. To avoid backlash, Nike has tried to distance themselves from these shoes as much as possible through the lawsuit, stopping the last pairs from being sold or given away. But when MSCHF made Jesus Shoes, Nike didn’t do jack-shit. And neither did all of the people complaining about Satan Shoes right now. Despite that both pairs can technically be seen as “blasphemous” because it’s literally using religion to make a profit, one is more acceptable than the other. Sounds a bit like we have a few hypocrites among us.
Just to clarify: it’s totally valid for some people to be weirded out that their shoes have real blood in them, but we all know that the internet has many stranger things to offer. Although the sneakers are no longer available to purchase (thanks, Nike), we highly suggest watching the free music video the next chance you get.