LITTLE NAS X VERSES NF

Atlanta rapper Little Nas X rose to stardom with his viral hit Old Town Road.  In an attempt to create another hit song with Montero, he follows a strategy used by dozens of rock bands before him.  Create controversy using as much satanic imagery as possible.  So we have his limited-edition “Satan Shoes” that contain a drop of blood.   We have Nike suing him for using their trade-mark. We have a music video that involves himself descending into hell.  LA times even labels the reaction as “another satanic panic”  And yet the song itself is quite tame with none of the controversy coming from the music or lyrics.

While younger audiences may be intrigued by this controversy, those who know rock music from the 70’s and 80’s should easily recognize this marketing stunt.  During that time, dozens of rock bands turned to Satanic imagery, hoping for the publicity of the church fearfully condemning their actions.  And human blood in a product?  KISS did this very stunt with their Marvel comic books in 1977.  

So yes, we are talking about Lil Nas X now, but will the song be a hit?

Time will tell…  

NF started his career on a Christian record label.   The major label that owned his Christian label decided to do an experiment and release his music to a wider audience.  To their surprise, his song Let You Down became a worldwide hit in 2017.   Now NF is no longer an artist in Christian music but a Christian artist within mainstream music. He competes for the same audiences that Lil Nas X does but doesn’t have the same marketing budget as Lil Nas X.   So NF uses the power of a good story to get our attention.

The main character of Story wakes up to a normal day.   As the scene develops, NF uses music and words to serve the story.  Soon, we even forget we are listening to a song.  The story takes over and we feel tension.   We crave resolution yet are uncertain if we will get it.

Even though nobody in the media is talking about this song because there is no controversy, will the storytelling propel it to be a hit song?

Time will tell…

Micah received a Masters of Popular Music Studies from the University of Glasgow and has worked several years in the music industries as a musician, critic, and band manager. He has a passion for helping audiences find better through discernment, critical-thinking, and empathy-development.   He integrates the work of several Christian scholars such as Dr. Al Wolters and Andy Crouch alongside the latest research in behavioural psychology, sociology, and popular music studies.