Three days ago, the rapper posted a Tiktok joking about his apparent court date this Monday over the selling of his “Satan Shoes," a special edition sneaker collab between Nas and the art collective MSCHF. The kicks stemmed from Lil Nas X’s viral video for “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” which famously featured Nas sliding down a stripper pole into hell and blessing Satan with a lap dance before killing him. The pair of repurposed Nike Air Max 97s claimed to include a drop of human blood in the shoe, and Nike pledged to take legal action earlier this spring, leading to a settlement with MSCHF in April.
Yet instead of appearing before the judge, this morning Lil Nas X dropped a teaser from the music video for his upcoming single, “Industry Baby,” that satirized him on trial. At this point, millions of people know that the cut is dropping this Friday. Once again, the rapper has proven himself to be our single best internet-age phenom — one whose burgeoning superstardom is fundamentally built on an innate understanding of the rhythms of social media and how to game them for maximum effect.
