{"id":1236,"date":"2021-04-13T14:30:39","date_gmt":"2021-04-13T19:30:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/capertongillett.com\/blog\/?p=1236"},"modified":"2024-11-27T02:42:19","modified_gmt":"2024-11-27T08:42:19","slug":"what-if-nas-was-one-of-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capertongillett.com\/blog\/what-if-nas-was-one-of-us\/","title":{"rendered":"What if Nas was one of us?: Lil Nas X, Pro Digital Marketer"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"
The only marginally SFW screenshot from “Montero.” (I checked.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In which I ruin a good thing by over-analyzing it. As is my way.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unless you\u2019ve been on a full media cleanse for the past six months, you\u2019ve heard the controversy about the newest music video for Lil Nas X\u2019s \u201cMontero (Call Me By Your Name)<\/a>.\u201d And chances are good that, fan or not, you\u2019ve watched said video, and watched a behotpantsed Nas slide down a stripper pole into hell and give Satan a lap dance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lil Nas X has said the video is striking out against the hypocrisy of conservative Christians who believe that he, and all his fellow LGBTQ individuals, are going to hell. \u201ci spent my entire teenage years hating myself because of the shit y\u2019all preached would happen to me because i was gay,\u201d he said on Twitter<\/a>. \u201cso i hope u are mad, stay mad, feel the same anger you teach us to have towards ourselves.\u201d It\u2019s a raw and powerful statement, and it\u2019s a context that turns a drug-fueled sex romp bop and a satanic lap-dance video into an unexpectedly powerful message. (It\u2019s also, one must acknowledge, some master-level trolling.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Lil Nas X is more than just an effective artist, as Complex points out<\/a>. He\u2019s also an effective marketer, with a deft grasp of digital media those of us in the business would kill to have. His blend of Twitter, YouTube, and merchandising collaboration, with a liberal dose of sensationalism, has come together in a comprehensive, cohesive, authentic, organic-feeling campaign that he unashamedly acknowledges has been nine months in the making<\/a>. And he recently passed 100 million streams on Spotify.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a push to get eyes on his video. It\u2019s a push to get eyes on his defiant rejection of the messaging that the person he is warrants eternal torment because of his sexual orientation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, I mean\u2026 it\u2019s working.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Satan Sneakers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The release of \u201cMontero\u201d was closely accompanied by the announcement of Nas\u2019s sneaker collaboration with design studio MSCHF<\/a>. The limited-edition sneakers were customized Nike Air Max 97s that included, among other infernal aesthetic cues, just a li\u2019l bit of human blood mixed into the paint in the soles of the shoe. Only 666 (get it?) were produced. (And promptly sold out.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This generated, of course, an online furor, with some people thinking it\u2019s awful but also awesome and others thinking it\u2019s straight-up awful and everyone having an opinion they wanted to share. Even better\/worse, Nike itself was forced to weigh in, averting boycott by making it clear that the brand had nothing whatsoever to do with the production of said sneaker. It was an outrage, it was an insult, it was a righteous blow, it was a very expensive pair of shoes \u2014 whatever it was, no one didn\u2019t have an opinion about what it was. And in the wake of the controversy, Nas released a heartfelt \u201capology\u201d video<\/a> on YouTube, expressing his regret for any insult he might have caused before cracking up and just rolling \u201cMontero\u201d one more time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Note: Nike did, ultimately, sue MSCHF for trademark infringement<\/a>, and won, triggering a recall. Buyers of the shoes will receive a full refund for the $1,018 sale price.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(I mean, let\u2019s not pretend Nike hasn\u2019t legitimately \u201csuffered significant harm to its goodwill<\/a>, including among consumers who believe that Nike is endorsing satanism\u201d as a result of their association, however spurious, with this shoe. In any other situation, I\u2019d say it\u2019s a mistake to learn from, but I suspect Nas knew exactly what he was doing from the beginning.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YouTube<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Not even counting his fauxpology, Lil Nas X makes thorough use of YouTube. The video itself was followed by so<\/em> so many novel opportunities to consume his content. In the style of videos offering popular songs as if they\u2019re being heard in, for instance, an abandoned shopping mall<\/a>, or playing in the next room<\/a>, Nas gives us \u201cMONTERO but ur in the bathroom of hell while lil nas is giving satan a lap dance in the other room<\/a>.\u201d He also gives us \u201cSatan\u2019s extended version<\/a>,\u201d which is really just the song with an extra run-through of the chorus, and an instrumental version<\/a>, which is just the song without his vocals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He celebrated his birthday with \u201cMONTERO (Call Me By Your Name) but it’s lofi and something you can study to lol<\/a>,\u201d basically a lounge-friendly slow-jam \u201cMontero\u201d that\u2019s great with a pre-dinner cocktail on the couch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not even slick dance remixes or extended cuts or collabs with other hot musicians \u2014 it\u2019s the same stuff, not hugely different, but different, and it\u2019s new, and it gets eyeballs. It doesn\u2019t change, because his message hasn\u2019t changed, and his message infuses the video. It\u2019s more impressions, more clicks, more traffic. And the dude knows how to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Lil Nas X – MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name) but it's lofi and something you can study to lolhttps:\/\/t.co\/79cV9DIROY<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/lsD7ETVTwS<\/a><\/p>— \u2606 \u2027dreamboy\u00b7\u00b7\u2027\u0329\u0325\u02df\u0359\u51ac\u02df\u0359\u2027\u0329\u0325l (@LilNasX) April 9, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote>