Lil Nas X’s apology for his recent "J Christ" video could be a genuine act of contrition, Christian rapper and teacher Dee-1 argued.
Lil Nas X’s music video and its accompanying promotion featured religious imagery, including a portrayal of the rapper as Jesus Christ on the cross, which immediately prompted criticism from many Christians who interpreted it as "mocking" and "disrespecting" Christianity. Following its release on Jan. 12, the rapper issued an apology on his Instagram account insisting that he didn’t mean to attack Christians.
"I know I messed up really bad this time. I can act unbothered all I want, but it's definitely taken a mental toll on me," Lil Nas X said. "I'm not some evil demon guy trying to destroy everybody's values and stuff like that. That's not me."
Though Dee-1 remarked that while he would have to see Lil Nas X’s actions to find whether he is sincere, he currently has "no reason to believe" that the apology was not genuine.
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"We have to see it in his actions before we believe him, but I feel like it's equally as important to show our love to people the same way we would want Christ to show love to us when we express sorrow or we express remorse for our actions that we may have reflected on and been like ‘that wasn’t right,’ or 'I could have done better,’" he said to Fox News Digital.
More importantly, he noted that it was "very telling" that Lil Nas X’s record label, Columbia Records, had not made any comment regarding the video.
"They didn't come out and apologize. You know what I mean? They allowed for this music video. They paid for the music video. I guarantee you, they paid for the music video. They paid for the marketing and the promotion of this whole campaign. But they are not the ones coming out and apologizing if they offended any Christians," Dee-1 said.
He added, "So let's think about what message that sends about what the music industry is okay with in terms of messaging that may be offensive to Christians. And I am a Christian, but I think that the music industry has shown that they don't have an issue with that."
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Dee-1 hoped that the apology could be a sign for the rapper "to make sense of all of this" and move forward.
"With that being said, our sins are still forgiven, you know? Each time we go and we repent. And of course, we have to be sincere about our repentance. So that's the point where, God will judge the sincerity. But from where I stood and looking at all the factors in the situation, I wanted to show him and extend the olive branch of saying, I see you, and I see the Act of contrition and you expressing that you didn't mean to offend Christians and showing sorrow for that," he said.
Dee-1 noted that he has both criticized and appealed to Lil Nas X on his own Instagram account, previously attacking the music video for promoting satanic imagery in a way that was "happening consistently" with him.
"These people are watching you play with God," Dee-1 said in a video on Sunday.
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Following Lil Nas X’s apology, Dee-1 wrote another Instagram post that called it "a step in the right direction" and hoped that it signaled "a shift is happening" in hip-hop culture.
Lil Nas X has been associated with demonic imagery in the past. In 2021, he collaborated on Satan-themed sneakers that featured a pentagram and inverted cross that reportedly contained 60 CCs of red ink mixed with a drop of human blood in the sole of the shoe. There were only 666 pairs made available.
