Industry Baby

Lil Nas X’s Hit ‘Industry Baby’ Would Have Sounded Wildly Different With The Artist He Originally Wanted

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Last week, Lil Nas X revealed the two artists he was unable to secure features from on his debut album Montero. The first, Drake, was unable to participate as he was putting the finishing touches on his own album, Certified Lover Boy. Nas says he’d wanted Drake on “Dolla Sign Slime”; instead, Megan Thee Stallion filled in admirably. However, Nas never did reveal which song he wanted Nicki on, which would have been a coup for a former member of her hardcore stan army, The Barbz. He said she never responded to his requests.

Today, though, during a Twitter Q&A to support his album, Nas solved the mystery for his curious fellow Barbz. When he was asked which song from the album he originally sent to Nicki Minaj, he didn’t hesitate to answer: “Industry Baby,” the Daytrip-produced, Kanye West-assisted, Jack Harlow-featuring megahit that is currently burning up the airwaves and terrorizing Lil Boosie’s dreams.

Admittedly, it could have resulted in a wildly different, yet more organic sounding collaboration — while Jack’s part in the video would probably have played a lot differently with Minaj in his place. However, Jack acquitted himself pretty well and has been a good sport about the video’s content, even going as far as saying he wouldn’t mind reshooting the infamous shower scene.

As to why Nicki never got back to Nas: that remains a mystery, although she had plenty of reasons, from just recently becoming a mother to battling a harassment lawsuit as her husband Kenneth faced trial for failing to register as a sex offender when the couple moved to California. She also wouldn’t have had much time to promote the record thanks to “Ball-gate” and its resulting backlash. Perhaps when the dust settles, we’ll hear a remix, which has been her M.O. of late, helping Doja Cat’s “Say So” go No. 1 on the Hot 100 chart.

Montero is out now on Columbia.

Lil Nas X Reminded A Mom Who Complained About His ‘Industry Baby’ Video How YouTube Searches Work

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Lil Nas X’s “Industry Baby” video continues to cause controversy for its explicit content but when one parent decided to complain about the video’s prominence on her YouTube search, Nas (who already tweeted out multiple disclaimers about this subject) had to remind them how search functions work. Other Twitter users joined in, pointing out that YouTube already has parental control functions to prevent small children from seeing inappropriate content — and while it’s far from a perfect feature, it’s probably well capable of keeping Nas’ gyrations aware from concerned parents, with just a little more effort than taking screenshots and posting angry messages on a completely different platform.

“This was the THIRD video that popped up when I searched ‘Baby videos’ on YouTube,” read the original complaint. Ordinarily, that’d be enough to garner some sympathy, but the next line kind of belied the bad faith argument the user was actually trying to make. “How much more proof do people need that they are after our kids???” Nas, who is pretty much the Shang-Chi of Twitter trolling, expertly reversed the argument with a sarcastic quote-tweet, highlighting that merely searching “baby videos” might not be the most effective method of finding quality kids’ programming.

“BREAKING NEWS,” he joked. “Local woman shocked that search results for ‘baby’ included videos with baby in the title.” Other users were quick to point out that YouTube has a wholly separate app, YouTube Kids, to circumvent exactly this concern. “Just say y’all not attentive parents and move on,” one jabbed.

Meanwhile, the phrasing of the bad faith questioning “that they are after our kids” — implying that evil gay people are out to brainwash children into … being gay, I guess? — echoed more conspiracy nonsense recently spouted by Louisiana rapper Boosie. However, true to form, Nas disarmed that line of reasoning just as deftly on last night’s MTV VMAs as he won the award for Video Of The Year for “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” shouting out the so-called “gay agenda” in his cheeky acceptance speech. Check out more responses to YouTube’s parental control policies below.

https://twitter.com/smoke_nd_pearlz/status/1437417901313646594

Lil Nas X Shook It Loose For His Vibrant VMA Performance Of ‘Industry Baby’ With Jack Harlow

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Not only did Lil Nas X’s MTV VMA performance receive a huge introduction from Billy Porter, but he also brought a marching band out to play the triumphant brass section of his hit song “Industry Baby.” Recreating part of the music video, the stage reproduced the “Montero Prison,” where Nas performed alongside pink-jumpsuit-clad dancers, flouncing through his cheeky choreography before being joined by a latex-covered Jack Harlow. After Harlow’s bridge, Nas hit more choreo modeled after the video’s infamous shower scene (he wore a pink Speedo for modesty’s sake), finishing out with a flourish of his other mega-hit “Montero (Call Me By Your Name).”

The timing of Nas’ VMAs appearance couldn’t be better. His debut album, Montero, is due for release in just six days. His performance caps a months-long rollout that included the releases of the controversial videos for “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” and “Industry Baby,” a pregnancy announcement complete with a maternity shoot, and a slew of attention-grabbing performances on shows such as the BET Awards and Saturday Night Live.

Nas’ performance also accompanies five nominations, including Video Of The Year, Best Direction, Video For Good, Best Visual Effects, and Best Art Direction for “Montero (Call Me By Your Name).” The video, which drew the ire of conservative commentators and old-school hip-hop heads, featured a fantasy setting in which Nas descended from paradise to a hellish underworld via stripper pole, where he offered a lapdance to a devilish ruler before killing and supplanting him on the throne.

Watch Lil Nas X’s VMA performance of “Industry Baby” with Jack Harlow above.

Jack Harlow is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Lil Nas X Said He Can’t Reveal How He Got Kanye To Produce His New Single ‘Industry Baby’

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In a new interview with Youtuber Kerwin Frost, Lil Nas X does what he does best — creates hype. Though we already knew that Kanye had been involved with Nas X’s latest single, “Industry Baby,” as a producer on the record, we don’t know how the two got involved. And when Frost tries to ask the young rapper about how the connection went down, he refuses to reveal it! Of course, only making everyone that much more curious.

“How did that happen? I actually can’t tell you,” Nas begins (around 25:10 if you want to follow along in the interview). “I can’t, not yet at least. It’s just like a thing, you want to protect connections. We talked, he’s a pretty cool guy, super down to earth. He’s super talented. He showed me some stuff. He’s working on some great music. It’s nice to work with somebody who’s done that for so long, so much longevity and still going. And like constantly evolving. Not even just evolving, but completely changing into something else… he’s also doing something different and new. Over and over and over again recreating himself.”

Well, that does keep it pretty cryptic, but maybe what Nas can’t reveal yet is that he has more new music coming with Kanye. Or maybe a third party introduced them and and song with all three artists is coming soon. Either way, working with Kanye is another feather in Lil Nas X cap, and while he’s readying his debut album, odds are there will be plenty more dramatic moments along the way.

Check out the full interview above.

Lil Nas X Drops An ‘Uncensored’ Version Of His ‘Industry Baby’ Video And It’s A Masterful Troll

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The content of Lil Nas X’s recent “Industry Baby” video is often explicit, although it was understandably cleaned up and blurred out when necessary for YouTube. Now, though, the rapper is offering an “uncensored” version of the clip, although it’s more of a hilarious tease than an actual X-rated clip.

In the first half-minute of both the original and “uncensored” videos, Nas gets acclimated to life behind bars. Then, we see an establishing shot of a running shower head. In the original video, that leads to a scene of Nas and other inmates dancing naked (but with their parts pixellated). The “uncensored” video is actually less revealing than that: Right when the viewer thinks they’re going to see some body parts, the video freezes on a still frame of the shower head as a simulated loading icon spins to make it look like the video playback isn’t working properly. That goes on for the rest of the video.

The rapper retweeted some reactions from fans who played along with the bit. One wrote, “MY MOM WALKED IN WHILE I WAS WATCHING THIS… HOW DO I EXPLAIN THIS TO HER???” Another said, “OMG their dicks were actually OUT-” A different user wrote, “Look I changed my router, called my internet provider, and bought a new computer but the video isn’t loading properly can you PLEASE reupload the right way this time.”

Check out the video above.

Lil Nas X Twerks Nude In Jail And Brings The Chaos In His ‘Industry Baby’ Video With Jack Harlow

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Lil Nas X should release his official debut album Montero at any point now, but in the meantime, the singer has graced the world with enough singles to make the wait bearable for now. There was of course the album’s lead single, “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” which set the internet ablaze thanks to its music video, Satan Shoes, and the strong opinions some had to it all. Next came “Sun Goes Down,” a much more relaxed release that dove a bit into Lil Nas’ life, and now, the singer returns with “Industry Baby,” a track that features a guest appearance from Jack Harlow.

The new track is a boastful one that’s carried by production filled with trumpets and a hard-hitting bass supplied by Lil Nas’ frequent collaborator Take A Daytrip as well as Kanye West. Jack Harlow arrives with a verse of his own to bring the song to an end boastful bars centered on his fame and success and how some have a hard time seeing him thrive in it all. Its accompanying video sees Lil Nas staying true to himself with scenes of twerking nude in jail while he raises a bit of hell with help from Jack Harlow.

Lil Nas shared the new song days after announcing the track with a video that parodies his impending Nike lawsuit trail. The singer himself played the judge, prosecutor, defendant, and a member of the juror in the effort that proved he isn’t too worried about the result of the real-life trial.

Press play on the new track in the video above.

Jack Harlow is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Lil Nas X Tries To Prevent ‘Industry Baby’ Video Complaints By Declaring It’s ‘Not For Your Kids’

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YouTube

Thanks to the universal success of “Old Town Road,” Lil Nas X began his career perceived as a kid-friendly artist. That’s despite the fact the song boasts lyrics about lean, adultery, and breasts. This misconception is part of the reason why “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” and its Hell-set video drew a lot of backlash from parents. Now, the rapper is getting ready to release a new video for “Industry Baby,” so he’s trying to get ahead of the inevitable criticism and nip it in the bud.

On Twitter today, he offered a disclaimer about the clip, writing, “saying this in advance so y’all won’t blame me. THE INDUSTRY BABY VIDEO IS NOT FOR YOUR KIDS!” A Twitter user responded, “My 2 year old loves your music how can you not make it appropriate for everyone,” to which Nas replied, “bless ur 2 year olds heart but i need to be a slut sometimes sir.”

Lil Nas X has gotten used to dealing with haters at this point, and he’s gotten quite good at it. There were complaints about his on-stage kiss at this year’s BET Awards, so he fired back by joking (probably, anyway) that his next step is to have sex on stage.

Lil Nas X Tries To Prevent ‘Industry Baby’ Video Complaints By Declaring It’s ‘Not For Your Kids’

by
YouTube

Thanks to the universal success of “Old Town Road,” Lil Nas X began his career perceived as a kid-friendly artist. That’s despite the fact the song boasts lyrics about lean, adultery, and breasts. This misconception is part of the reason why “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” and its Hell-set video drew a lot of backlash from parents. Now, the rapper is getting ready to release a new video for “Industry Baby,” so he’s trying to get ahead of the inevitable criticism and nip it in the bud.

On Twitter today, he offered a disclaimer about the clip, writing, “saying this in advance so y’all won’t blame me. THE INDUSTRY BABY VIDEO IS NOT FOR YOUR KIDS!” A Twitter user responded, “My 2 year old loves your music how can you not make it appropriate for everyone,” to which Nas replied, “bless ur 2 year olds heart but i need to be a slut sometimes sir.”

Lil Nas X has gotten used to dealing with haters at this point, and he’s gotten quite good at it. There were complaints about his on-stage kiss at this year’s BET Awards, so he fired back by joking (probably, anyway) that his next step is to have sex on stage.