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Blake Shelton may be a redneck and proud, but that doesn’t been that he has to be offensive and racist. The Voice mentor dropped the video for his latest single “Boys Round Here,” featuring the Pixie Dolls (and his wife Miranda Lambert), and performed it for the Oklahoma Tornado Relief Concert, while rednecks may love the song, fans took to social media to voice outrage for the song and music video’s racist context.
Since his role on The Voice and marriage to country singer Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton has been come a household name. The country singer, prides himself on being from the Midwest and like many singer/songwriters he incorporates his life experiences into his lyric, but while “Boys Round Here,” is a song about proud, it also bashes other genres mainly hip-hop and the accompanying music video drives the message home.
Shelton sings, “I’m a Redneck, we don’t do the “dougie” round here,” referring to the popular urban dance, indirectly founded by hip-hop legend Dougie Fresh. The video, directed by Trey Fanjoy drives Blake’s points home. As there is a group of Black “rappers” featured in the video, seemingly to show that they are an outcast in redneck town.
The video received mixed reviews from fans as some tweeted:
We can all agree that the "boys 'round here" music video is the most racist thing ever, right?
— Harrison Pasley (@hpasley) May 28, 2013
Blake shelton's boys round here music video is somewhat racist ...... But at least we know he likes black people — Amanda (@SusannAmanda) May 28, 2013
Aw, now, Blake.Why you wanna go and bust that myth about us all being racist jacklegs?Now everyone will know... fb.me/1bRGKLXF0
— Seba O'Kiley (@SebaOKiley) May 24, 2013
Although some noted the racism in the song and video, Blake Shelton could have been poking fun at the racial and cultral divides in America. Blake sings, "Well the boys 'round here don't listen to The Beatles," sings Blake. Instead, they "run ole Bocephus through a jukebox needle," a phrase that only true "country boys" could appreciate and understand. Radio.com interpreted the video and song, as "all in the name of good fun," but is it?
Shelton was born and raised in the racist city of Ada, Oklahoma, where the KKK is still alive and terrorizing residents. Threats, racial slurs and a Ku Klux Klan symbol were spray painted on the Philemon Missionary Baptist Church in 2009, according to The Okalhoman. The church is located in a predominately black Ada neighborhood known as Hammond Heights.
What do you think of Blake Shelton's "Boys Round Here?"
