NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Brad Paisley is taking control of the conversation about Brad Paisley with the release of his new album, “Moonshine in the Trunk.”
The unexpected criticism he and rapper LL Cool J received over the song “Accidental Racist,” which was leaked ahead of Paisley’s 2013 album “Wheelhouse,” still stings, and Paisley says he felt – and still feels – betrayed.
“I’m not going to take this anymore,” Paisley said. “I’m not going to take it when they tell me, ‘You shouldn’t have done that.’ I’m a musician. Don’t tell me I shouldn’t have done that. I am going to say what I want to say, and this album is what I want to say right now.”
Paisley enlisted friends old and new – Ellen DeGeneres, NASCAR’s Jeff Gordon and even a NASA astronaut – to help him leak every song on “Moonshine in the Trunk” before its Aug. 26 release, trading jabs with his record label boss along the way.
“Whatever critic wants to give it two stars, I don’t care,” Paisley said. “Because guess what? People know better, they’ve heard it. They’ve heard it, and I got the first presentation of it.”