Susen Hunter

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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. OKIE MAGAZINE www.okiemagazine.com Page 30
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Susen Hunter

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