Lil Nas X Throws ‘Project X’-Style Party in Sweaty ‘Light Again’ Video

Lil Nas X wants to break out of the box he’s been confined to — and part of that involves breaking the rules. It’s fitting, then, that his new single “Light Again” is being positioned as the start of a new era, the first phase of a project titled Dreamboy. The pulsating club record arrives alongside an Andrew Donoho-directed music video that draws inspiration from Project X, the 2012 film about a house party that descends into chaos in the absence of rules.

“See now, society’s tie on me released now,” Lil Nas raps on the opening verse of the song while sending out invitations to his Project Lil Nas X party. “Fuck crazy, I’m finna go senile.” The party starts tame enough, with guests getting tramp stamp tattoos and hanging out of washing machines in what looks like a wood-paneled basement. It only gets bigger from there, transforming into a warehouse blowout. The rapper narrates his hedonistic escape, singing: “You know I gotta catch my flight/You know I gotta reach new heights again/You know we run it up at night/You know we only get one life for this.”

Ahead of the single’s official release, Lil Nas took to X (formerly Twitter) to detail his newfound creative approach. “For so long I’ve tried to make every song get as much attention as possible. Due to my fear of everyone saying I’m a flop or feeling like less,” he wrote. “But this time around I’m choosing my vision. Do I hope my songs do well? YESS but they are coming regardless and I’m standing behind them.”

“Light Again” was originally released in March as a one-off SoundCloud upload. “Ngl probably gonna get in trouble for this,” Lil Nas wrote on X at the time before apologizing to his record label: “Sorry Columbia!”

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With the launch of Dreamboy, Lil Nas is staging a comeback from his comeback. In January, the rapper released the single “J Christ,” which was meant to establish the foundation of a new album cycle. But after being met with intense criticism, for both his use of religious imagery in the song’s video and his continued reliance on controversy as a marketing tool.

“When the world needed him the most, he vanished,” read a teaser for “Light Again” released earlier this week. “But now, he’s back … and better.”