Susen Hunter

It is a sad day in America
when the best collaboration
between country and rap
artists remains “Over and
Over” by Tim McGraw and
Nelly.
“Accidental Racist,”
a song by Brad Paisley
featuring LL Cool J, is a
song on Paisley’s latest
album Wheelhouse. It
has garnered universal
disdain from music critics
and political talking heads
alike. Not accidental yet
completely racist, two
grown men demonstrate a
The song’s story
is told primarily through Paisley’s point of view.
The opening lines describe him half-apologizing
meant to say is I’m a Skynyrd fan.” However, he later
calls himself “just a proud rebel son with an ol’ can
of worms / lookin’ like I got a lot to learn but from my
point of view.”
Describing himself as “a proud rebel son”
discredits any good will Paisley may have been
attempting to establish. Regardless of what positive
things have come from the American South since
States of America – which called themselves rebels
– has since been used and interpreted as a symbol
of white supremacy. Thus, identifying as a “proud
rebel son” in this context denotes acceptance of the
white supremacist concept.
He continues on with a misunderstanding of
history, claiming “they called it Reconstruction,
“Rubble” cannot be interpreted as a metaphor
for lingering hostile race relations, as he literally
described the Reconstruction era in the previous
widespread ruins of a war a century and a half ago
remain in this modern age.
LL Cool J’s verses see the song take a turn
for the worse. He opens by
addressing Paisley with “Dear
Mr. White Man,” an antiquated
phrase from slavery or minstrel
show days. Before anything
else comes from him, LL raps
from a place of accepted
inferiority.
He later bargains with
Paisley in an attempt to level
and understand one another.
In the most discussed line of
the song, LL claims “if you
don’t judge my gold chains /
I’ll forget the iron chains.” As
comedian Stephen Colbert
sarcastically said on his show,
“That’s a pretty good deal,
Paisley. LL will forget 250
years of enslavement if you
accept his taste in accessories.”
Django Unchained for being historically accurate,
wants to “let bygones be bygones” in a completely
unnecessary conversation, and memorializes
Robert E. Lee. The confusing, race-apologizing
lyrics are headache-inducing at best and infuriating
at worst.
The choice to bring in LL Cool J to rap on a
song about cultural racial tension is a curious one.
Although a pioneer for rap and hip hop, he has never
been known for socially- or politically-conscious
lyrics. Ta-Nehisi Coates of The Atlantic wrote of the
Talib Kweli to record a song about gang violence in
L.A., and [he] wouldn’t call up KRS-ONE to drop a
verse on a love ballad.” LL Cool J is simply out of
place in this song.
Both men have defended “Accidental Racist,”
stating that it was intended to begin a conversation
rather than solve any perceived problems. The
real conversation it started is simple – one man
deep-seeded history, and the other apologizes
for belonging to an ethnic group. Neither side is a
positive way to handle this contention; neither is
Taylor B, an Army Brat via Fort Sill, accepts
all complaints and correspondence at taylorb@
okiemagazine.com.
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