Experimental rapper Lil Nas X released his highly anticipated single “Holiday” last Friday. The song itself wasn’t anything new from Lil Nas X, but the video was marvelous.

This is his first single in over two years that wasn’t attached to a project. “Holiday” was co-produced by up-and-coming production team “Take A Daytrip” and “Tay Keith”. It is the first single to be released from his upcoming debut album.

Lil Nas X has had an explosive rise to fame. The 21-year-old rapper from Atlanta, Georgia shot to the top of the charts with his hit “Old Town Road” featuring country music star Billy Ray Cyrus. “Old Town Road” is the highest certified single worldwide, and sat at number one of US charts for a record breaking 17 weeks in a row. After releasing his EP ‘7’, he continued to rack up hits. “Panini” hit Platinum five times, while “Rodeo, which featured rappers Cardi B and Nas, hit Platinum two times.. 

With all of this success, everybody is curious to see what’s next. Was it all a gimmick? Is he a three-hit wonder? Or can he have a long-lasting career?

The answer is still yet to be known, especially after the release of “Holiday”. Just like a similarly titled song from pop group Little Mix, “Holiday” had to grow on me. My initial reaction to this song was simply, “Mmmm, ok”. It’s catchy, it has a nice beat. It’s unique in that it overtly references his sexuality, especially with the lyric, “I might bottom on the low, but I top shit”. It could potentially be as successful as “Panini” or “Rodeo”. However, the song itself is nothing unique compared to the rest of his discography.

I wasn’t really impressed until I saw “Holiday’s” music video. If there is one thing Lil Nas X is good at doing, it’s dropping bomb music videos. His creativity is unmatched, always going above and beyond with each new release. 

This video was nothing less than what I was expecting. Its high budget and Lil Nas X’s creativity makes it a marveling sight. The video takes place within Santa’s workshop, with Lil Nas X being Santa and various Robots being the elves. The video was reminiscent of “Panini” in the way he danced with the robots. That sealed the deal for me, with “Panini” being one of my all-time favorite videos from him. After watching the video, I ended up listening to the song more and more, which helped me grow to like it.

Altogether, I found “Holiday” to be average at best. I want something different from Lil Nas X. I understand that this is going to be his signature sound, as defined by his first EP, but I miss the experimental aspect of Lil Nas X’s early music. I hope that his debut album shows some more variety and touches on some more intimate subjects. For now, though, “Holiday” is a decent single that needs a few listens to get really into. I ended up liking the song more as a result of the music video, which I would highly recommend.