Lil Nas X is set to make his return on Friday (January 12), with his new single ‘J Christ’ set for release as the first taste of his second studio album. According to the singer himself, the song is about “the man who had the greatest comeback of all time”. Its cover art, which can be viewed below, depicts Lil Nas tied to a crucifix and being hoisted up in a desolate, grassy field.

Lil Nas X has not released new music since ‘Star Walkin”, the 2022 single that also served as the theme song for an esports tournament dedicated to the video game League of Legends. He finished touring in support of his debut album, 2021’s Montero, in July of 2023 – concluding a world tour that also took in Australia over the 2022/23 new-year festival period.

Even before the formal announcement of ‘J Christ’ as a single, Lil Nas had been teasing biblical imagery in his public appearances and statements. In September 2023, he turned up on the red carpet of the MTV Video Music Awards carrying a small, leather-bound brown bible that he showed off to not only the press but in photos with rappers Ice Spice and Sexyy Red.

More recently, he responded on X to being targeted in Dave Chappelle‘s latest Netflix special The Dreamer over his controversial 2021 music video for ‘Montero (Call Me By Your Name)’. “Y’all have gotta let [it] go,” he wrote in reply to a clip of the special. “Me and the devil broke up three years ago. Y’all acting like children of divorce.” That same day, he also shared a drawing of himself in robes performing the sign of the cross.

Following the release of ‘J Christ’, the end of the month will also see the release of a new HBO documentary about Lil Nas entitled Long Live Montero. Directed by Carlos López Estrada and Zac Manuel, the documentary is described as “an intimate portrait of an artist navigating identity, family, expectations and acceptance.”