Blake Shelton is standing by his controversial new tune Minimum Wage, after facing a barrage of backlash and being accused of being ‘tone-deaf.’
The 44-year-old country star’s song lyric in question is: ‘Girl, lookin’ at you lookin’ at me that way/ Can make a man feel rich on minimum wage.’
Many people slammed the song because of the lyric being sung by Blake, a multi-millionaire, during the COVID-19 pandemic with many Americans without a job and countless business shut down.
Speaking to CMT Shelton said: ‘We’re at a point now where it doesn’t even deserve a response. That’s why I didn’t come out initially and say anything, because they’re not entitled to a response from me. This is absolutely ridiculous.’
Tone deaf? Multi-millionaire Blake Shelton calls criticism of his song Minimum Wage ‘absolutely ridiculous’ after backlash and says ‘I’m proud of it’
‘I just feel like these days, there are people out there who don’t want to know the truth,’ he added to CMT.
‘They just want to hear what they want to hear, and they want to pick a fight.’
‘No matter what your intention is, no matter what the truth is, they want it to be something that they can be upset about so that they can get on social media and try to grab a headline.’
Having his say: Speaking to CMT Shelton said: ‘We’re at a point now where it doesn’t even deserve a response
The latest: He debuted his new tune Minimum Wage during NBC’s New Year’s Eve television special on Thursday night. And the song has been met with mixed reviews, with some fans slamming its tone deaf nature while others gushed about the catchy lyrics
The song is about his love for fiancee Gwen Stefani; her brother Todd actually directed the video for the song as well.
One user took to Twitter and wrote: ‘The irony of listening to a millionaire Blake Shelton singing about “love on minimum wage” at the end of 2020 might be lost on its target audience.’
Another said: ‘Does anyone else find Blake Shelton’s “Minimum Wage” song to be incredibly tone deaf to our country’s current state?’
Opinions: Many people slammed the song because of the lyric being sung by Blake, a multi-millionaire, during the COVID-19 pandemic with many Americans without a job and countless business shut down
One Twitter user wrote: ‘What!? @blakeshelton is #MinimumWage even for real? Yes of course @gwenstefani can make a dude feel rich cuz she’s a millionaire. Are you working at the Home Depot now or something? Wanna pay my rent?’
A Twitter user said ‘just when we thought #2020 couldn’t get any worse, @BlakeShelton releases his new single…’ and another noted that Blake ‘singing about #minimumwage when’ he has a ‘net worth of $100 million (as does Gwen Stefani) shows an arrogant disrespect for millions of underpaid workers who lost jobs and struggle to feed families while he jets around the country saying “all you need is love.”
Others defended the star and slammed the cancel culture.
Two sides to every story: Others defended the star and slammed the cancel culture
One person wrote: ‘People hating on #BlakeShelton for #MininumWage are idiots looking for reasons to be offended. First, metaphor. Second, he’s in love. Third, think he was born with 100 million dollars?!’
Another said that ‘everybody butthurt at Blake Shelton listens to and supports everything Cardi B does and says lol’ while one person just gushed about the tune.
Minimum Wage is about a woman’s love as money, in the sense that it makes him feel rich even on a minimum wage.
Performance day: Minimum Wage is about a woman’s love as money, in the sense that it makes him feel rich even on a minimum wage; pictured Thursday at NBC’s New Year’s Eve
Blake sings: ‘Girl, your love is money, your love is money/ Yeah, your love can make a man feel rich on minimum wage/Girl, your love is money, your love is money/Yeah, your love can make a man feel rich on minimum wage.’
The song opens with: ‘Yeah, I met you ‘fore anyone knew my name/Playin’ for pennies on the dive bar stage/Split an all-star special on our first date in Waffle House booth/Your daddy was cryin’ when he gave you away/’Cause all those country song I played/They didn’t come with a 401K/Buy hey, I had you.’
Blake and his longtime love Gwen, 51, announced their engagement on October 27, 2020.
Love birds: Blake and his longtime love Gwen, 51, announced their engagement on October 27, 2020; seen together January 26, 2020 at the 62 Annual Grammy Awards at STAPLES Center