Music

Brad Paisley and LL Cool J's "Accidental Racist" has to be a joke, right?

by Tyler Munro

Brad Paisley’s long been considered a pop-country prophet; a southern singer with an endearing sense of humour and penchant for a good hook. That might change after he leaked his new song yesterday, an ill-advised and cringe-worthy collaboration with LL Cool J called “Accidental Racist.”

With lyrics somehow not written by The Onion, the track seems to indicate that Brad Paisley’s nervous around black people because he’s guilty; apparently by simply wearing a cowboy hat, he is to blame for slavery. For his part, LL Cool J somehow fares worse, telling Paisley he won’t judge his red flat if he doesn’t judge his durag. The racism seems less accidental here than it does implicit, like a slow realization on both their parts that the sentiments are lingering.

“When I see that white cowboy hat, I’m thinkin’ it’s not all good. I guess we’re both guilty of judgin’ the cover not the book,” raps LL on his first verse. “I’d love to buy you a beer, conversate and clear the air, but I see that red flag and I think you wish I wasn’t here.”

For his part, he almost proves Paisley right. But who are they representing, really? This track is so mindbogglingly stupid that we’re actively trying to convince ourselves it’s a joke. Paisley’s had fun with his music in the past, on Twitter and with William Shatner, but we have to wonder who signed off on this one. Paisley, one of country’s biggest stars and LL Cool J, a big-name rapper-turned-actor trying to make his return to hip-hop, might have shot themselves in the foot with this one.

With LL Cool J shouting out Robert E. Lee and comparing jewelry to slave-chains and Paisley playing the victim for a crime nobody’s implicated him in, “Accidental Racist” will likely stand the time as one of contemporary music’s biggest blunders. Brad Paisley says the song was partly inspired by the popularity of movies like Lincoln and Django Unchained, which is made abundantly clear by the lyrics: as if they based their knowledge of the circumstances entirely on two exceedingly long movies.

“We don’t solve anything, but it’s two guys that believe in who they are and where they’re from very honestly having a conversation and trying to reconcile,” said Paisley to Entertainment Weekly.