Lil Nas X beats Satan in basketball and survives a biblical flood in his new music video

• Lil Nas X released "J Christ" on Friday, the lead single from his forthcoming sophomore album.
• The music video uses religious imagery to depict Lil Nas as a saintlike figure.

In Lil Nas X's new music video, all celebrities go to Heaven.

"J Christ," the lead single from Lil Nas' forthcoming sophomore album, was released on Friday. The visual opens with a line of celebrity impersonators waiting to ascend a celestial staircase, including Barack Obama, Dolly Parton, Ed Sheeran, Kanye West, Mariah Carey, Oprah Winfrey, and Taylor Swift.

The video contains several references to Lil Nas' controversial music video for "Montero (Call Me by Your Name)," which showed the Grammy winner sliding into hell on a stripper pole.

In "J Christ," however, Lil Nas flips the script. He's now depicted as a saintlike figure in various biblical scenes.

Throughout the video, Lil Nas waves hello to Michael Jackson in Heaven, plays a basketball game against the devil, shears a sheep, poses for photos at the Met Gala, and gets strapped to a cross.

Eventually, a "global flood warning" appears on the TV. Lil Nas adopts the role of Noah in the Book of Genesis, leading animals to safety on his ark.

As the video ends and the sun reappears, a title card reads, "Day Zero: A New Beginning."

Next, a passage from the First Epistle to the Corinthians appears: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation. The old has passed away; Behold, the new has come."

When the single was announced on Monday, Lil Nas preemptively defended his use of religious imagery.

"the crazy thing is nowhere in the picture is a mockery of jesus," he wrote on X (formerly Twitter). "Jesus's image is used throughout history in people's art all over the world. I'm not making fun of shit. yall just gotta stop trying to gatekeep a religion that was here before any of us were even born. stfu."

When he was accused of simply "trolling judgmental Christians" with his music and visuals, Lil Nas doubled down.

"the problem is y'all judge everything at face value," he wrote. "i've never released a visual without an underlying meaning and y'all know that. but since i'm a troll y'all discount my art as just 'pissing ppl off.'"

He also denied he's "trying to be like Gaga or Madonna," both of whom have subverted religious symbolism in music videos and performances.

"with all due respect idgaf what they did and im doing what i want with my career," he wrote.