The discussion around the new song and video from Lil Nas X, which features the rapper sliding down to hell on a stripper pole and giving a lap dance to Satan, has mostly focused on the allegedly shocking nature of the content. But there is nothing new about a musical artist (I use the term loosely) resorting to satanic imagery in order to generate publicity and controversy. Guys like Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie were doing it in the ’90s. Metal bands were doing it before them. Ozzy Osbourne was decapitating bats with his teeth on stage two decades before Lil Nas X was born. The fact that all of this stuff has been done before doesn’t make it any less abhorrent, but it does make it rather banal. We have reason to object to this sort of material, just no reason to be shocked by it.
We also miss the point if we are focused only on the content itself, as if it exists in a vacuum. If Lil Nas X is blazing any new trails, it is only because he is the first person to go this route less than a year after performing with Elmo on Sesame Street. With his first hit, “Old Town Road” — a song so bad that it makes you long for the traditional country stylings of Luke Bryan — Lil Nas X gained a large audience of very young children. This was no accident. The rapper and his handlers made a decision to cultivate this fan base with appearances on children’s television shows, performances at elementary schools, and even the release of a children’s book. In an interview on The View less than three months ago, he explicitly attributed his success to children.
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