People Actually Thought Lil Nas X Was Pregnant After Seeing This Pic

There are some artists who seem to be destined to become just one hit wonders. They release a ridiculously catchy song and then fade into nothingness. While many thought this would be the fate of Lil Nas X after the smash success of his "Old Town Road" track, the artist has kept himself in headlines with bold moves like his pregnancy post.

The rapper/singer/songwriter has managed to utilize shock value and controversy like few other artists are able to today. Much has been written about the dearth of homosexual representation in hip-hop, which has only now begun to change. Lil Nas X not only embraces his sexual orientation, but celebrates it and challenges gender norms in ways that appear to simultaneously delight and get a rise out of people.

For example, in the music video for "MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)" the rapper gives Satan a juicy lap dance. He also hit the devil theme hard with his limited-edition Satan Nikes that apparently were made with a bit of real human blood — and only 666 of them were made for added collectible, devilish delight.

He's grinding people's gears again with a series of "pregnancy" photos that look like they're ripped straight off of someone's demure maternity photoshoot celebrating the beauty of expectant motherhood.

But is he really pregnant?

The artist's post was meant to generate buzz for the arrival of his album, "MONTERO" which is due for a fall 2021 drop. In this Instagram post he wrote, "SURPRISE! I can't believe I'm finally announcing this. My little bundle of joy, "MONTERO" is due September 17, 2020."

There were some who were offended by Lil Nas X's pregnancy imagery, however, saying that he was "going too far" by showing off a photoshopped/prosthetic baby bump. Others indicated that he was using "pregnancy as a prop."

Lil Nas X seemed to take all of the criticism in stride, writing: "Let me get offline, all of this negative energy is not good for the baby."

While some thought his response was hilarious, there were others who doubled down, insisting he was being "disrespectful" towards the act of giving birth.

There were many who insisted that he was "making fun" of pregnancy, and the post was misogynistic.

Others called the critical response to Lil Nas X's post a "knee-jerk" reaction and just another case of vocal individuals finding something to be offended about.

What do you think of Lil Nas X taking his album's "baby" analogy to the lengths of throwing a maternity photo shoot for it? Did he go too far? Or is it all in good fun?