Lil Nas X Opens the Gates of Heaven in Video for New Single ‘J Christ’

variety.com:

Lil Nas X is setting new personal bests for provocation with his new song and video, portraying “the man who had the best comeback”: “J.

Christ.” After opening the gates of heaven for celebrity look-alikes of A-list stars including Taylor Swift, Kanye West, Mariah Carey, Oprah and Barack Obama, Nas sings the beginning lines of “J.

Christ.” Nas tapped his returning choreographer Sean Bankhead to arrange the video’s elaborate dance numbers. From there, the eye-popping video moves through multiple visually dazzling, Biblical-oriented scenes, finishing with Nas as Noah, building an ark and setting sail after the great flood, with the video ending on an end-of-part-one, to-be-continued note.

Loaded with both LGBTQ and religious imagery, it’s Nas pushing buttons with the same style and sensibilities as his earlier videos, notably “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)” and “That’s What I Want.” While the song and his delivery are strong, its hook is so reminiscent of Kendrick Lamar’s “Humble” that the similarity can he hard to get past.