While plenty of Lil Nas X fans are hyping themselves up over his upcoming new single, dance artist Sega Bodega has a few questions for the rapper about one of his promotional photos.
In a series of posts to his X on Wednesday (Nov. 13), Bodega — who goes by Salvador Navarrete off stage — pointed out the similarities between a photo Lil Nas X shared in conjunction with his new project Dreamboy and the single artwork for Bodega’s 2021 song “Angel on My Shoulder.” “not even trying to put a spin on it is where I’m like yeesh,” Bodega wrote. “anyway stream ‘Angel on my shoulder.’”
Billboard has reached out to Lil Nas X’s representatives for comment.
In both pictures, the subjects — Bodega and Lil Nas, respectively — sit at a vintage desktop computer in a dimly lit, wood-paneled rooms while a figure made out of light stands just behind them covered in white light. Lil Nas himself pointed out the similarities in a post to his Instagram Stories, sharing the artwork for “Angel on My Should” and calling it a “ref” for his new promotional photo.
When fans pointed out Lil Nas’ Stories post to Bodega, the “Cicada” artist responded that he was still unhappy with the lack of recognition. Responding to one fan who called him “ungrateful” and said that Lil Nas should “remove [his] credit to you,” Bodega said he couldn’t tell “if this is a very good joke or not cause that’s literally what he did ahahah there is no credit.” He added that offering credit “in a photo that will disappear in 24 hours forever and no name whatsoever of artist or photographer [Aidan Zamiri]” wasn’t sufficient.
The artist’s complaint comes just after Lil Nas X’s announced his new album era Dreamboy, and revealed that his next single, “Light Again,” will be debuting on Friday (Nov. 15). In the post where Lil Nas referenced Bodega’s single art, the rapper offered a heartfelt thank you to his fans. “it just dawned on me how lucky i am to have all of you that still f–k with me. bc i know it isn’t always easy,” he wrote.
Check out Sega Bodega’s posts below:
