LL Cool J, Brad Paisley Song Causes Controversy
Country star Brad Paisley released his ninth studio album, Wheelhouse, this week and one particular track has caused quite a stir.
Paisley recorded a duet with rapper LL Cool J called, “Accidental Racist,” which many listeners first believed was a joke. A few of the lyrics include gems such as, “I’m just a white man comin’ to you from the southland… caught between southern pride and southern blame” and “If you don’t judge my gold chains, I’ll forget the iron chains.” It wasn’t just the lyrics that made the song seem satirical; it was also the fact that no one would have expected Brad Paisley and LL Cool J, whose genres of music are polar opposites, to ever collaborate on a real song.
However, during his press junket for the album, Paisley was quick to defend the track and its sincerity. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Paisley explained by saying, “This isn’t a stunt…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…We [Paisley and LL Cool J] don’t solve anything, but it’s two guys that believe in who they are and where they’re from very honestly having a conversation and trying to reconcile.”
You can listen to “Accidental Racist” for yourself, here.
Amanda Bynes Threatens to Sue Tabloids
Through Twitter, public police records, and paparazzi photos, it’s been no secret that Amanda Bynes has recently been spiraling down a very odd, and possibly dangerous, path. Just don’t tell Amanda Bynes that.
Bynes has grown fed up with media outlets and has threatened to sue anyone who reports her as showing “erratic behavior.” In a lengthy tweet on her official Twitter account, the starlet named blogs and tabloid magazines such as In Touch, Us Weekly, and Perez Hilton, calling them out for “hiring paparazzi who follow me then take the worst photos with the worst angles.” She also mentioned the E! Network and tweeted, “Loving your shows but suing you for spreading lies about me on your website! I’ll sue you everytime you post a lie with a paparazzi shot..Only choose the paparazzi pics that I select and post on twitter and my personal pics when talking about me!”
She ended her rant by tweeting, “I don’t speak to my parents anymore, they don’t talk to reporters on my behalf. Don’t believe anything you read about me unless I tweet it…My friends don’t speak on my behalf either. Please don’t read anything about me needing help. That offends me. Follow me on twitter!”
Jay-Z Releases “Open Letter” in Response to Critics
Hip-Hop’s first couple, Jay-Z and Beyoncé, got Washington D.C’s attention last week after spending their fifth wedding anniversary in Cuba.
After pictures surfaced from the couple’s stay on the island, two Florida lawmakers launched an investigation to seek information about “the type of license that Beyoncé and Jay-Z received, for what purpose, and who approved such travel.” A letter from the lawmakers obtained by Reuters includes a statement which says, “Numerous press reports described the couple’s trip as tourism, and the Castro regime touted it as such in its propaganda.” Due to the embargo that bans U.S citizens to travel to Cuba, Americans are only allowed to visit the nation if they have a special license from the U.S Department of the Treasury. Licenses are not given for people who are simply going as tourists, but to people who are going for academic or cultural reasons.
A few days after the “investigation” started, a spokesman from the Department released a statement which said, “the travelers in question traveled to Cuba pursuant to an educational exchange trip organized by OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control) to sponsor and organize programs to promote people-to-people contact in Cuba.”
A statement from the Department seemed to end the controversy for a few days, but it began again after Jay-Z released a song called “Open Letter” this Thursday morning. The song was a response to people who criticized the trip and included a lyric that suggested that President Obama may have had something to do with the trip: “…boy from the hood but got White House clearance…Obama said chill, you gonna get me impeached/You don’t need this s–t anyway, chill with me on the beach.”
White House Press Secretary, Jay Carney, didn’t let Jay-Z have the last word, however. “I guess nothing rhymes with ‘Treasury,” Carney said at a press conference on Thursday, “Because Treasury offers and gives licenses for travel as you know, and the White House has nothing to do with it.”
Lesson to Jay-Z and Beyoncé: stay away from politics. And islands banned by the U.S.
Hally Berry Is Pregnant
46-year-old Halle Berry is reportedly pregnant with a baby boy!
In a recent interview with CNN, Berry described the news of being pregnant again as, “the biggest surprise of my life.” She also added, “”I thought I was kind of past the point where this could be a reality for me, so it’s been a big surprise and the most wonderful,”
The child will be her first son as well as her first child with her fiancé, Oliver Martinez. The actress also has a five-year-old daughter, Nahla, from a previous relationship.
