I just don’t get Jason Aldean sometimes.
The guy has some legitimately great songs. Songs like “Any Ol’ Barstool,” “The Truth,” “Drowns the Whiskey” with Miranda Lambert…hell, even a lot of his older stuff like “Hicktown,” “Amarillo Sky” and “My Kinda Party” is still pretty damn good today.
But then he goes and does something like this…
Today Brantley Gilbert dropped his collaboration with Jason, the trap-beat infused “Rolex on a Redneck,” and honestly I’m just confused.
It’s supposed to be some kind of “blue collar” anthem I guess, a song about trying to be the Warren Buffett of your small town and how if you work hard enough even rednecks can buy things like Rolexes and Yeti coolers.
Oh, and that money can even get you a girl to sit on your lap cause your “paper’s to the roof.”
Apparently the roof isn’t very high though, because it’s not enough money to “put a milli on a paycheck” or “put a house out in Malibu.”
I mean…what?
That line’s especially ironic considering Jason bought a vacation home on the beach in Turks & Caicos after selling his old Florida beach house (that was on an island) back in 2020. So it’s not Malibu, but my guess is Jason can afford a Rolex or two.
So much for authenticity in country music.
The best (and by best I mean worst) line though has to be this one about “giving the good Lord his 10%”:
“And when you do, it’ll do what it does”
Oh. Thanks for clearing that up.
Just look at some of these ridiculous lyrics:
“It can put a Rolex on a redneck
It can put some inches on your big block Chevy
It can put a Yeti on your back deck, slap-full of long necks
Camo on your brand new Benelli
Yeah, it can put some pearl on your snap, some gator on your boots
Girl on your lap ’cause your paper’s to the roof
This turnin’ dirt life might not put a milli on a paycheck, but
It can put on a Rollie on a redneck”
And that’s not even taking into account the trap beats and “hick hop” sound of the song itself. It’s 2014 all over again, and not in a good way.
The weirdest thing about this song though is that it was written by some pretty talented songwriters: Guys like Randy Montana, Hardy, and Taylor Phillips, who also wrote “Hurricane” with Luke Combs.
But then you realize that Phillips and Brock Berryhill, another songwriter on this one, do a lot of work with Kane Brown and it kinda starts to make sense…
Overall I see where they were trying to go with the song, I really do. The whole “work hard and you can get what you want” blue collar theme is one that’s pretty prevalent in country music. But because it’s such a common theme, if you’re gonna do it, you better do it right.
And this one just did it all wrong.
