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Outrage over 'Accidental Racist' song by Brad Paisley and LL Cool J

By Kristen Butler, UPI.com
Country music recording artist Brad Paisley (File/UPI/Chip Somodevilla)
1 of 2 | Country music recording artist Brad Paisley (File/UPI/Chip Somodevilla) | License Photo

Country star Brad Paisley's new album "Wheelhouse" is due out today, and Monday's release of his duet with rapper LL Cool J was almost universally panned.

Paisley begins the song "Accidental Racist" with an anecdote about wearing a confederate flag shirt into a Starbucks, apologizing to the "man who waited on" him because the shirt only meant he is a Lynyrd Skynyrd fan.

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"‘Cause I’m a white man livin’ in the southland / Just like you I’m more than what you see / I’m proud of where I’m from but not everything we’ve done."

LL Cool J joins in with a rap about his sagging pants and gold chains being misunderstood, and talks about how the white man in the cowboy hat doesn't understand "what the world is really like when you’re livin’ in the hood."

In a final round of camaraderie, LL Cool J raps "If you don't judge my do-rag, I won't judge your red flag," and Paisley sings that he's a son of the "new south" and wants to make things right.

The song sparked outrage across the internet, and in response a defense of Brad Paisley, who said the song wasn't "a stunt." Questlove of the band The Roots joked that the song must have been a satire by Weird Al Yankovic, but of course, it wasn't.

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