Teasing us earlier this week with a comedy sketch of the embattled controversy and consequential lawsuit with Nike over his “Satan Shoes,” Lil Nas X has finally dropped the epic visuals to his smash hit “Industry Baby.” The video premiere, which featured Jack Harlow and carceral-inspired dance scenes, jabbed at the rapper’s critics while raising money for communities victimized by mass incarceration.
Capitalizing off the video’s hotly-anticipated viewership, the 22-year-old turned the debut into a fundraiser for The Bail Project, a non-profit organization that advocates to dismantle structural systems of mass incarceration “by disrupting the money bail system one person at a time.” In the fundraiser description, the queer phenom wrote, “Music is the way I fight for liberation. But true freedom requires change in how the criminal justice system works, starting with cash bail.” He continued, “I know the pain that incarceration brings to a family, and I know the disproportionate impact that cash bail has on Black Americans. There are so many stories that call on us to take action, and I invite you to join me in this important civil right issue.” As of late, the philanthropic campaign has raised over $23,000 on behalf of the initiative.
“Industry Baby” is a fiery follow-up to “Call Me By Your Name,” which has faced its own torrential wave of backlash for its hellish visuals that depicted the rapper seducing the devil with a lap dance. Whether decried as a blasphemous presence by staunch conservatives or lambasted for his sexually liberating music, X is committed to refusing the ironclad notions of the status quo. “Once you show the world more of yourself, they can relate more,” he previously told Entertainment Weekly. He continued, “Looking back on history, the biggest icons, the biggest artists, are the ones who aren’t trying to always make everybody happy and who were doing themselves. I hope to do that at all times.”
