Brad Paisley and LL Cool J team-up for new song ‘Accidental Racist’ targeting Confederate flag and saggy pants stereotypes

Country music star Brad Paisley has a new single out titled “Accidental Racist” with Rapper LL Cool J and may be upsetting some groups. The theme of the songs is ‘not judging a book by its cover’ and targets some of the racial stereotypes, both white and black.

Brad Paisley
Image/Video Screen Shot

During the song Paisley recounts wearing a shirt with a Confederate flag on it as a symbol of “Southern pride,” not because he is racist.

Here’s the lyrics:

“I’m just a white man comin’ to you from the Southland / Tryin’ to understand what it’s like not to be / I’m proud of where I’m from but not everything we’ve done / And it ain’t like you and me can rewrite history / Our generation didn’t start this nation / We’re still pickin’ up the pieces, walkin’ on eggshells, fightin’ over yesterday.”

Rapper LL Cool J joins in:

“Dear Mr. White Man, I wish you understood / What the world is really like when you’re livin’ in the hood / Just because my pants are saggin’ doesn’t mean I’m up to no good / You should try to get to know me, I really wish you would / Now my chains are gold but I’m still misunderstood.”

LL Cool J also admits that he too is “guilty of judging the cover and not the book” saying he won’t judge his “red flag” if he doesn’t judge his “do-rag.”

Paisley addressed the song in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, saying he has “no interest in phoning it in” with his music.

“I think that [the song] comes from an honest place in both cases, and that’s why it’s on there and why I’m so proud of it. This isn’t a stunt. This isn’t something that I just came up with just to be sort of shocking or anything like that. I knew it would be, but I’m sort of doing it in spite of that, really,” he said.

He went on: “I’m doing it because it just feels more relevant than it even did a few years ago. I think that we’re going through an adolescence in America when it comes to race. You know, it’s like we’re almost grown up. You have these little moments as a country where it’s like, ‘Wow things are getting better.’ And then you have one where it’s like, ‘Wow, no they’re not.’”