Having tackled racism, LL Cool J and Brad Paisley turn their fearless eyes toward the human heart
Although it made a valiant effort to lay hatred to rest alongside Robert E. Lee (R.I.P.), Brad Paisley and LL Cool J’s “Accidental Racist” was met with rampant intolerance on the Internet—a discrimination so severe, it nearly equals the kind suffered for so long by guys in Lynyrd Skynyrd shirts. But, in the spirit of just trying to pretend that everything’s cool now that is the song’s answer to racism, both Paisley and LL Cool J are standing behind “Accidental Racist,” with LL Cool J recently telling CNN he’s “really proud” of it. “Music is about, and art is about, connecting different people, and building bridges and breaking the rules,” he said, ostensibly spontaneously, when asked about the song, which breaks the rules that music should be enjoyable to listen to, all in its far more important mission to build bridges—bridges based on accepting that different races have different kinds of headwear and accessories, and that slavery was a long time ago.
“If it's not compelling, and it's not complex and it's not interesting, then what are we doing it for?” he added, echoing most of yesterday’s comments. LL Cool J, however, meant this rhetorically: "I needed to do something that was going to be interesting like that, and shake things up, and jump out of the box," he concluded, possibly referring to the box slaves were placed in as punishment by cruel slaveowners, which he's willing to overlook if you overlook his boombox.
Anyway, always looking to move things forward, today Paisley and LL Cool J have released their second duet, “Live For You.” It's a deceptively straightforward love song that similarly, boldly asks the world to "open its mind" to the fact that LL Cool J likes a girl, beginning with accepting lines such as, “My heart shines like moonlight on a lake” without prejudice.