Lil Nas X and his public relations team deserve awards for this one.
Lil Nas X has found a way to turn his misfortune into a genius marketing campaign. Earlier this year, Lil Nas X released his hit single, “Montero (Call Me By Your Name).” Alongside it, Lil Nas X released a controversial and constant-conversation-topic video centering around flirting with the devil. Sorry, correction, giving the devil a lap dance.
With that, Lil Nas X promoted what-has-since-been-dubbed “Satan Shoes.” The shoes featured pentagrams and human blood. But, the shoes also came with a lawsuit. The artist teamed up with New York-based art collective MSCH, who used Nike Air Max 97s as the base of their design. So when conservatives complained about the shoes, Nike released a statement saying Lil Nas X was infringing on their brand.
coming soon ❣️ https://t.co/Iq9Nf0aiHm
— ✟ (@LilNasX) March 26, 2021
Months later, the issue came back to our minds and made us worry if the issue wasn’t settled. Earlier this month, Lil Nas X started talking about an upcoming “court date.” On TikTok, the musician posted a dance video in which he pretends to cry. Text is then displayed above him saying, “When you have court on Monday over satan shoes and might go to jail but your label tells you to keep making tiktoks.”
I am SCREAMING 😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/GAwQfr3m0Z
— Akan Thee Doll, Esq 💜🇳🇬⚖️ (@AkanButNoJeezyy) July 16, 2021
Lil Nas X then posted a meme of a man wearing a yellow Minions shirt and a yellow Spongebob Squarepants shirt. To caption the post, Lil Nas X wrote, “Trying really hard to decide what I should wear to court on Monday for the satan shoes case.”
trying really hard to decide what i should wear to court on monday for the satan shoes case pic.twitter.com/VAGuz1JgZD
— ✟ (@LilNasX) July 16, 2021
But Monday has come, and it seems those posts, and the anxiety they built within his fans, were just the artist trolling. Earlier today, Lil Nas X released a two-minute teaser video for his upcoming single, “Industry Baby.” In the video, we are introduced with a courtroom skit in which Lil Nas X plays all the major characters.
“Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury. This is about much more than shoes. Mr. Nas X, are you gay?” the Nike’s lawyer, who is again acted by Lil Nas X, asks the defendant version of him.
“What does this have to do with the shoes?” the defendant responds.
“Let me rephrase the question,” the lawyer restates. “Do your Momma know you gay?”
— ✟ (@LilNasX) July 19, 2021
The video then ends with the defendant being sent to five years in Montero State Prison. The video also announced the upcoming release of “Industry Baby,” which features Jack Harlow. In addition, the song was produced by Take a Daytrip and Kanye West.
So if you’re a fan of Lil Nas X’s music, or his social media presence, get excited. “Industry Baby” is set to release this Friday, July 23.
