"I believe the reason as to why people like Lil Uzi Vert and other mainstream rappers are appealing to this aesthetic of retro and rough designs of Heaven’s Gate is because our society is tired of the plain, smooth, and clean lifestyle."
--Emiliano estrada
Heaven’s Gate, the suicidal religious cult, is in the news again, but not for the reason you may think. Lil Uzi Vert, a well-known rapper, recently released a graphic for his upcoming album, Eternal Atake, using the exact same style as the Heaven’s Gate logo. The cult’s logo features an outer-space background with a slice of planet Earth rising from the bottom of the image.. The main logo has the cult’s iconic keyhole symbol with the word “gate” fitting within the keyhole shape.
In Uzi’s Instagram post of his album cover, he copies this format, and writes on the bottom of the image, “As was promised- the keys to Eternal Atake are here in LUV and Rage [The UFO 2] as Lil Uzi Vert and his Father 2000 years ago.” Heaven’s Gate’s logo was literally copied, with the exception of a switch of words:“Lil Uzi Vert” instead of “Jesus Christ”, and “LUV and Rage” instead of “Ti and Do”.
Lil Uzi Vert also changed his profile picture for instagram to the former leader of Heaven’s Gate, Marshall White, a.k.a Do, but soon after took it down. Uzi had leaked a song from his upcoming album, called “New Patek” in late June. The cover of this song is the rapper looking up as he is dancing, with some low-fi graphic edits—and what do you know, he uses the Heaven’s Gate keyhole symbol.
There seems to be a sudden popularity towards Heaven’s Gates’ aesthetic, featuring very light and retro images.Heaven’s Gate is most recognizable as the cult that committed mass suicide drinking a poisonous Kool-Aid while all wearing the same outfit, and more importantly the same ugly all-black Nike sneakers. At first glance, these shoes appear to be some thirty dollar running kicks that you find at a Nike outlet, but actually sell for over $1,500 on Ebay. You can even rent them for two years, which is insane.
So, some important things to know about the cult is that they weren’t crazy radical people. They weren’t showing any forms of hatred or violence towards anyone outside of their cult, they just went around the country sharing their ideas and if others believed them then they could join. The religion has actually, “existed since the beginning of time and will be here forever”, said a representative from Heaven’s Gate that I spoke to. The first people to actually begin speaking about it that the world knows about. The founders were Ti (Bonnie Nettles) and Do (Michael Applewhite), and they claimed to be from the Kingdom of Heaven, and the keys to getting there. If their followers—which they referred to as students—wished to have a place in Heaven, they did what Nettles and Applewhite instructed.
After Nettles passed away of cancer, Applewhite decided to shift gears and make the cult much more serious and have a stronger commitment. Nettles said that Applewhite could communicate with him through thoughts, and he would share her messages with the class. Around this time, the class changed their names, shaved their heads, and had to follow very strict and organized guidelines. This was the period of planning the mass suicide in correspondence with the passing of the Hale-Bopp comet, that would grant them access to the Kingdom of Heaven. The strict guidelines included having to pour syrup a certain way, follow the sape recipe to make spaghetti, and having to ignore and dispel any thoughts regarding sexual and materialistic desire. This was supported with the fact that students were in the process of becoming Beyond Human, a phrase commonly used in the cult. Nettles and Applewhite had claimed to have been Beyond Humans, and were sent from the Kingdom of Heaven to teach humans on Earth how to achieve what they have.
After this long process, Applewhite received a sign for when the mass suicide was to occur, which was when the comet Hale-Bopp appeared. Applewhite said that 33 alien spaceships were coming to pick up the class and physically transport them in what he called the Next Level. However, when Nettles died, they assumed they could pass on through spiritual methods, since Nettles had deceased and they assumed went back to the Kingdom of Heaven. Then, on March 26, 1997, 20 dead bodies lied face-up wearing all black baggy clothing, the same black Nike Decades, and a purple shroud above their bodies. They had killed themselves by drinking a poison mixed with alcohol, and some were wearing a bag on their head incase they did not die from the mixture.
I believe the reason as to why people like Lil Uzi Vert and other mainstream rappers are appealing to this aesthetic of retro and rough designs of Heaven’s Gate is because our society is tired of the plain, smooth, and clean lifestyle. They are gravitating to something “otherly”, something more rebellious, more unique, and more strange. Rather than seeking praise from the mainstream, rappers are positioning themselves as outsiders by getting attention for doing things that are weird and ugly.
So, some important things to know about the cult is that they weren’t crazy radical people. They weren’t showing any forms of hatred or violence towards anyone outside of their cult, they just went around the country sharing their ideas and if others believed them then they could join. The religion has actually, “existed since the beginning of time and will be here forever”, said a representative from Heaven’s Gate that I spoke to. The first people to actually begin speaking about it that the world knows about. The founders were Ti (Bonnie Nettles) and Do (Michael Applewhite), and they claimed to be from the Kingdom of Heaven, and the keys to getting there. If their followers—which they referred to as students—wished to have a place in Heaven, they did what Nettles and Applewhite instructed.
After Nettles passed away of cancer, Applewhite decided to shift gears and make the cult much more serious and have a stronger commitment. Nettles said that Applewhite could communicate with him through thoughts, and he would share her messages with the class. Around this time, the class changed their names, shaved their heads, and had to follow very strict and organized guidelines. This was the period of planning the mass suicide in correspondence with the passing of the Hale-Bopp comet, that would grant them access to the Kingdom of Heaven. The strict guidelines included having to pour syrup a certain way, follow the sape recipe to make spaghetti, and having to ignore and dispel any thoughts regarding sexual and materialistic desire. This was supported with the fact that students were in the process of becoming Beyond Human, a phrase commonly used in the cult. Nettles and Applewhite had claimed to have been Beyond Humans, and were sent from the Kingdom of Heaven to teach humans on Earth how to achieve what they have.
After this long process, Applewhite received a sign for when the mass suicide was to occur, which was when the comet Hale-Bopp appeared. Applewhite said that 33 alien spaceships were coming to pick up the class and physically transport them in what he called the Next Level. However, when Nettles died, they assumed they could pass on through spiritual methods, since Nettles had deceased and they assumed went back to the Kingdom of Heaven. Then, on March 26, 1997, 20 dead bodies lied face-up wearing all black baggy clothing, the same black Nike Decades, and a purple shroud above their bodies. They had killed themselves by drinking a poison mixed with alcohol, and some were wearing a bag on their head incase they did not die from the mixture.
I believe the reason as to why people like Lil Uzi Vert and other mainstream rappers are appealing to this aesthetic of retro and rough designs of Heaven’s Gate is because our society is tired of the plain, smooth, and clean lifestyle. They are gravitating to something “otherly”, something more rebellious, more unique, and more strange. Rather than seeking praise from the mainstream, rappers are positioning themselves as outsiders by getting attention for doing things that are weird and ugly.
This trend originated in the beginning of the SoundCloud era. With notable names like XXXTentacion, Trippie Redd, and Ski Mask the Slump God, these rappers were making music about murder, suicide, and demonic worship. Although Heaven’s Gate aren’t devil worshipers, Uzi still appeals to the aesthetic and differentiation of their religion from something more mainstream, like Christianity. X specifically made his career from this violent and occult place, and landed himself with a seat on the XXL freshman class, which is basically XXL giving upcoming rappers tons of publicity. XXL makes videos where the public learns about the rappers, and hears them freestyle. X’s freestyle was so unique because he told the DJ to cut the beat. He got down on one knee, and just rapped about being the antichrist, killing people who oppose him, and some other weird stuff about the devil. A more recent notable name is Juice Wrld, who supposedly sold his soul to the devil. This gave him lots of attention on social media, and lots of other rappers on Soundcloud followed his trend of applying selling their souls in their music. This is so taboo because of the fact that it is a way of being chaotic and not following the social expectations. It inspires others to rebel against the norms, and make change.
