- Lil Nas X announced his new single "J Christ" will be released on Friday.
- The cover art depicts the "Montero" singer as Jesus Christ on the cross.
- "The crazy thing is nowhere in the picture is a mockery of Jesus," he said in response to backlash.
Lil Nas X immediately sparked backlash on Monday when he unveiled the title and cover for his upcoming song, "J Christ," set for release on Friday.
'"MY NEW SINGLE IS DEDICATED TO THE MAN WHO HAD THE GREATEST COMEBACK OF ALL TIME!" he wrote on social media.
The artwork depicts Lil Nas as a Christlike figure on a cross, which is the classic symbol of faith in Christianity. His face appears serene as the cross is lifted to stand.
Shortly after the announcement, Lil Nas shared a post on X (formerly Twitter) to defend his use of religious imagery.
"the crazy thing is nowhere in the picture is a mockery of jesus," he wrote. "Jesus's image is used throughout history in people's art all over the world. I'm not making fun of shit. yall just gotta stop trying to gatekeep a religion that was here before any of us were even born. stfu."
The Grammy-winning singer also reshared posts from fans who sprang to his defense.
"If y'all truly cared about religion like y'all say u do, you could easily see how heavy of a Christian he & his family is," one person wrote. "Yall wanna gatekeep people from religion so bad, it's not him making religion look bad it's y'all making it look bad by saying who can & can't be a Christian."
"Maybe if y'all looked at lil nas x's music videos as movies y'all would be less sensitive idk," reads another retweet.
Lil Nas is no stranger to controversy. The music video for his 2021 single "Montero (Call Me by Your Name)" was widely criticized by conservatives for its satirical, homoerotic depiction of hell.
The video was partially inspired by homophobic reactions to Lil Nas coming out as gay in 2019.
"At first I was really afraid of alienating any of my straight fans," he later told Entertainment Weekly. "But then it was kind of like, if they feel offended, they were never really here for me. They were here for whatever version of myself they made up in their head."
"Montero (Call Me by Your Name)" was the lead single for Lil Nas' acclaimed debut album "Montero." He is expected to release his sophomore LP this year.