Lil Nas X has stirred the pot once again with the biblical references in his new music video for the track "J Christ."
The clip, directed by the artist himself, and long teased via social media over the past weeks, begins with celebrity look-alikes including Oprah Winfrey, Kanye West and former President Barack Obama walking up the stairway to heaven.
Lil Nas X also dunks on the devil during a one-on-one basketball game while wearing his infamous Nike "Satan shoes" and survives a biblical flood on Noah's ark.
But angry commentators were most incensed, predictably, by the sequence showing Lil Nas X nailed up on a cross like Jesus Christ.
The critiques began after Lil Nas X posted a preview of the crucifixion to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, on Jan. 8.
"I think that he is mocking Christianity. He is mocking Christ," the Christian rapper Bryson Gray told Fox News. "That's why he uses Christian imagery to do it. He's doing it with the goal to mock us because that's how he gets his clicks. I don't care if he gets the clicks about Christians reacting. I want to see more Christians reacting."
The imagery also angered streamer and YouTube star Kai Cenat.
"Yo, Lil Nas X, you could eat my whole d**k," he said in a stream on the night of Jan. 11 transcribed by Billboard. "God is going to handle you in the right way. I don’t even want to talk about that yet, bro."
The video's biblical references ruffled a lot of feathers ahead of its release.
The track is the first new single Lil Nas X has released since the 2022 songs "Star Walkin’ (League of Legends Worlds Anthem)" and "Late to da Party" featuring YoungBoy Never Broke Again.
The musician appeared to be drawing a line between his own return to the spotlight and Christ's resurrection.
"MY NEW SINGLE IS DEDICATED TO THE MAN WHO HAD THE GREATEST COMEBACK OF ALL TIME!" he wrote in the X post from earlier this week.
Lil Nas X also tried to goad conservative Christians with a fake acceptance letter from Liberty University posted to Instagram on Jan. 10.
"I know some of yall hate me right now but i want yall to know im literally about to go to college for biblical studies in the fall," he wrote in the caption. "Not everything is a troll! Anyways IM A STUDENT AGAIN! LETS GOOO."
In the clip, Lil Nas X recreated the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
There was also lots of love for "J Christ" on X.
"The new Lil Nas X track is a bop the gays win again," one user said. "I'm sorry Lil Nas X ate and left no crumbs," said another.
The musician is also the subject of the upcoming HBO concert movie Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero, which will debut at 8 p.m. ET, Jan. 27. It can also be streamed on the companion service Max.
The feature film, which premiered at last year's Toronto Film Festival, documents the rapper during two months of performing during his 2022-23 Long Live Montero global tour.
The video also includes a sequence where the singer dunks on the devil during a one-on-one basketball game.
Lil Nas X, born Montero Lamar Hill, grew up in and around Atlanta.
Before his music career took off, the singer was a prominent member of the Nicki Minaj fanbase. But he promised to never mention the pop star again after her fans attacked him for the reference in his 2021 track "Sun Goes Down."
