As we have all come to expect out of Lil Nas X, the video is pretty spectacular. It begins with him being sentenced to 5 years in Montero State Prison , where his life as an inmate includes hot pink uniforms, impeccable naked shower choreography, a Shawshank Redemption-style escape, and finally, a prison-break that has every inmate dancing out of the barbed-wire gates.
There are even a few cameos, with Colton Haynes appearing as a prison guard and Jack Harlow, who also performs on the song, in an electric chair. The story is written by Lil Nas X himself, and it was no arbitrary choice to set it in a prison. The video is a fundraiser for The Bail Project, an organization that fights mass incarceration through its National Revolving Bail Fund. Together with Lil Nas X, the organization has formed the Bail X Fund, to encourage others to help end cash bail.
Cash bail requirements have a system of wealth-based incarceration in which people with money can pay to be let out of jail during their legal proceedings, while people who cannot afford their bail must stay in prison. This disproportionately impacts people of color.“Music is the way I fight for liberation. It’s my act of resistance. But I know that true freedom requires real change in how the criminal justice system works. Starting with cash bail. This isn’t just theoretical for me.