Here’s an interesting product of the pandemic: More than a few artists are using the downtime to release unexpected holiday music, from Dolly Parton to the Goo Goo Dolls. While genre-bending rapper Lil Nas X hasn’t exactly announced plans for a full Christmas album, he’s still seemingly getting into the Yuletide spirit with a song called “Holiday,” which he teased during Sunday night’s NFL match-up between the New Orleans Saints and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But if a parade of “Old Town Road” remixes have taught us anything, it’s that nothing involving the highly memed artist can be simple. Ergo, it’s not enough for Lil Nas X to dress as jolly St. Nick and hand out presents in the snow. Instead, he’s a time-traveling cowboy who essentially enters a Santa Clause-ian contract and becomes the Big Guy In Red, just in time to presumably save the holiday. It’s a mash-up between a Tim Allen classic and, for reasons unknown, Back To The Future III. Honestly, that can’t be weirder than anything else we’ve endured this year.
Speaking of the DeLorean-fueled trilogy, beloved time-traveling officianado Michael J. Fox shows up with an ominous warning for the new Santa: “Whatever you do Nas, don’t go to 2020.” Joke’s on him: Has he seen any of the rapper’s releases since his breakout single? He pretty much only lives in the future.
The Grammy-winning rapper has been working relatively silently since the release of his EP 7, which featured “Old Town Road” and “Panini.” “Holiday” is set to drop November 13. You can check out the trailer below.