Brad Paisley’s album Wheelhouse was released today (April 9) by Sony Music Nashville, and its track “Accidental Racist” is attracting plenty of attention. Many bloggers and reports have offered negative reviews of the song penned by Paisley, Lee Thomas Miller and rapper LL Cool J.
New York’s The Village Voice posted one of the more insightful reviews, explaining the situation this way: “Yesterday the Internet lost its collective shit upon hearing Brad Paisley and LL Cool J’s ‘Accidental Racist,’ a song much thornier and more complex than the simpleminded reactions it has stirred…It’s sad that Paisley’s most important song is not one of his strongest. But its heart is in the right, complex place, no matter how dopey Cool J’s ‘do-rag/red flag’ formulation.”
The LA Times reported the song “even-handedly questions assumptions about race relations,” and called Wheelhouse “his most ambitious album to date, taking on such hot-button topics as spousal abuse, Southern provincialism, racism and social justice alongside characteristically well-crafted mainstream country fare.”
Paisley shared his thoughts on Twitter: “‘Cause I wouldn’t change a thing. This is a record meant to be FAR from easy listening. But fun. Like life. Have a ball, ya’ll. love- brad” and “…I hope the album rocks you, soothes you, raises questions, answers, evokes feelings, all the way through until Officially Alive”
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Sarah Skates has worked in the music business for more than a decade and is a longtime contributor to MusicRow.View Author Profile
