Holiday: Lil Nas X's Merry Return
Lil Nas X. My absolute king in the world of music and on Twitter. On Friday, he dropped a new song titled “Holiday” along with a decked-out music video, and I can surely say that he dropped it with a bang.
Let’s start with the song: firstly, I just want to warn you, this is not a song you should be playing at the Christmas dinner table with your grandmother. It’s not necessarily, shall we say, “family-oriented.” It also doesn’t have that Christmas-vibe I was expecting and isn’t anything particularly new from the singer—it very much sounds exactly like his low-toned, simple-yet-groovy beat style and he didn’t seem to take many risks with it. Nevertheless, it is a BANGER—not everything has to be groundbreaking like “Old Town Road.” I appreciate the man just wanting to spread a little Xmas cheer.
The song is his burgeoning confidence in who he is as a person and as an artist in the music industry: he has reached what some may call a peak in his career (although I hope that he keeps rising!) and thus every day, for him, feels like a “Holiday.” He’s recently embraced his sexuality publicly, has challenged gender norms by expressing it, and, of course, his music has smashed its way through the top charts.
Favorite line of the song: “Hee hee I’m as bad as Michael Jackson.”
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Where I would say he lacked in creativity for the music, he made up for in the video. Lil Nas X has a tendency to go for sci-fi looks, and this time around he did not disappoint. Set on Christmas Eve in the year 2220, Lil Nas X plays multiple different characters. First, he appears as a futuristic Santa Claus, decked out in metallic pants with matching suspenders overtop a glittery shirt. His elves are actually robots, and I find the funniest part of the video to be where an elf is working on a PS5, the new console that everyone in the year 2020 has been raving about.
Imagine getting some sort of random 200-year-old gaming device as a Christmas present. Whoever is getting that must have been put on the naughty list!
The scene changes to Lil Nas X as some sort of larger, Transformer-esque robot. I’m not quite sure if he’s supposed to be a toy, as the character wakes up in a box on a conveyor belt, but before I have time to think further, he switches characters again.
Next, he’s a different toy driving a toy car. He wears yet another metallic outfit, this time sporting a more emo look with spiked shoulder pads and a mohawk. His makeup is incredible: his face looks like it has been lit ablaze with black fire as the swift marks are highlighted with bits of frosty white to make the look pop.
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As the car races along, another version of Lil Nas X stops the car. He is life-sized, so I’m going to assume he is not a toy. Instead, due to his ears and boots, I assume he is an elf—one of the only non-robotic ones, I guess? Again he dresses in a metallic fashion, this time in the form of a vest, a pleated skirt, and striped leggings. His silver hair adds to the entire look, as do the orange eye makeup and colored contacts (which freak me out, by the way).
While we break into a second chorus with a dance choreography from these four different characters, we have Santa Lil Nas X leave his office to get ready for his big night out. As he descends an elevator, he somehow emerges with his metallic Santa hat and overcoat. He hops into his sleigh, which is actually a sports car. Who knew. It’s no surprise at this point that his reindeer are, you guessed it, robots.
The part I laughed out loud at was when Santa’s workshop is revealed to be behind a Mount Rushmore version of Lil Nas X and his previous music video characters. Like I said, this song is about him celebrating himself.
Overall video review: the visuals are out of this world. It amazes me that this man can even come up with these kinds of concepts. The level of detail in the video is insane. Just look at each shot and admire the trinkets in the background, or each character’s outfits. Not a thing was missed.
I hope to see more from Lil Nas X in 2021 as he continues to push boundaries in music, fashion, entertainment, and society as a whole. Catch me continuing to be a part of the Nasarati nation for years to come.
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