This one may reportedly be the best music video produced so far this 2021 year, according to trending popular responses. Opinions?
At the end of March Lil Nas X exposed the downfall of modern society by releasing "Montero," a satirical music video that had moralists in an uproar, exposing their hypocrisy. The 22-year-old artist had already shown mastery in inciting hysteria with the release of “Old Town Road,” which upset country loyalists because a black person was profiting from a genre they helped create. But the video for “Montero,” where Nas X dives into Hadean for a stripper pole to give Satan a lapdance, sparked a whole new level of outrage. The clip directed by Tanu Muino seemed too ironic to be taken literally, especially if one was aware of his trolling presence on social media. But conservative politicians and pundits, many of whom did not know him before, simply saw an opportunity to cope. The video was immediately deemed "demonic" and "blasphemous." The same goes for the 666 pairs of "Satan Shoes" that he released along with the video.
Politicians like South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, who let Trump go crazy for human rights, proclaimed that the video symbolized "we are in a fight for the soul of our nation." Many agree. But Noem doesn't seem to know which side she's really on.
None of "Montero "'s most ardent detractors seemed to realize that the video was essentially fan bait. Naem's telegraph and brimstone were the same rhetoric that has demonized homosexuals throughout human history. Nas X simply told them that "all homosexuals go to hell", and knew that they would turn to anger and judgment (being put on the Twitter Summer Jam screen for their own misdeeds) rather than facing their own hatred. Even beyond controversy, however, the video for “Montero” would be our choice for this spot on its own artistic merit. It's a flamboyant and meticulously curated video that includes a scene from Nas X put on public trial in Rome-style, which could be seen as the true heart of the video if it weren't for the incendiary closing scenes. Not all of Lil Nas X's digital antics have deeper meanings like this, but "Montero" was personal, as the letter, he delivered to his teenage self attests. Ultimately, he broke the internet and picked up where he left off "WAP", making pop music controversial.
