Fri, 18:08: I keep thinking about Lil Nas X’s awesome (and hot) video for “That’s What I Want,” released in tandem with his album release today—there’s something specific I want to add about it. I love that this video has a narrative arc, and that it’s a love story, and that he makes frank allusions to sex a part of it. This is NOT sex just for sex’s own sake; this is a refusal to deny that sex is a massive, vital part of any love story. People downplay the importance of sex and it’s moronic; Lil Nas X clearly understands that. This is so much more nuanced than just “trolling.”
Granted, the story told here is ultimately a sad one—I do love the narrative detour clearly alluding to “Brokeback Mountain”—but that changes nothing about the point I am making. My ever-increasing love for Lil Nas X feels very directly tied to my decades of devotion to Madonna, as I see clear parallels. For many years I wondered who would truly walk in Madonna’s footsteps: Lady Gaga? Rihanna? Nope, it’s Lil Nas X. To be clear, he is absolutely his own, unique person. But, Madonna pushed the envelope in unprecedented ways 35 years ago, and Lil Nas X is the first person I have seen pushing that *same* envelope, with wild success—defiantly being his authentic, openly sexual self in ways that push the culture to evolve—he’s just pushing it further than even Madonna ever could.
Let’s just hope his career diverges more as he grows older, and he doesn’t follow Madonna’s footsteps later in life into wack job territory. For now at least, I have hope that he’ll avoid that trap.