Hip-hop artist Lil Nas X has caused quite a stir with his latest music video for his song “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” and his new expensive line of shoes and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is one of the conservative voices speaking out.
Lil Nas X released the video on Friday, which featured a scene where the rapper gives the Devil (also played by the musician) a lap dance, before breaking the demon’s neck and taking over as the ruler of hell.
Over the weekend, Lil Nas X also announced he was dropping “Satan shoes,” an exclusive run of 666 pairs of black Nikes (the company did not endorse the merchandise) that were priced at $1,018 a pair (a reference to the Bible passage Luke 10:18 that reads: “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven”). Each shoe’s air bubble sole contains red ink and one drop of human blood, according to marketing material.
Noem, an outspoken Christian, was horrified at the merchandise announcement, taking to social media to criticize the rapper.
“Our kids are being told that this kind of product is, not only okay, it’s ‘exclusive,'” Noem wrote on Facebook and Twitter Sunday, reposting an article about the shoes. “But do you know what’s more exclusive? Their God-given eternal soul. We are in a fight for the soul of our nation. We need to fight hard. And we need to fight smart. We have to win.”
Since Lil Nas X is also a prolific social media user, he quickly responded to Noem’s critical comments.
“ur a whole governor and u on here tweeting about some damn shoes. do ur job!” he wrote, retweeting Noem’s post on Sunday.
However, this was not the end of the conversation.
Noem responded again to the rapper, tweeting him a Bible passage.
“What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? -Matthew 16:26,” she said.
Lil Nas X wasn’t one to let her have the last word, though, and retweeted her post with a more explicit quote of his own.
Noem isn’t the only powerful figure to speak out against the rapper, who has drawn criticism from figures such as political pundit Candace Owens and basketball player Nick Young.
Lil Nas X was prepared for the ire, though, tweeting over the weekend that he hoped people would start creating conspiracy theories about him due to the imagery in the music video.
