Here’s Why Blake Shelton’s song ‘Minimum Wage’ Got a Lot of Backlash
And they are making some valid points.
Last Thursday, Blake Shelton was really excited to premiere his new song ‘Minimum Wage’ on NBC’s New Year’s Eve. However, many of his audience did not receive the song as he may have intended. He’s now receiving a lot of backlash online as people say his song seems “tone deaf”.
Blake Shelton’s Minimum Wage is being called “tone deaf”
Unlike billions across the world, Blake Shelton actually had a really good 2020. While speaking to Carson Daly on the premiere of Minimum Wage, the judge from The Voice said:
I can’t speak for everybody else, but I had a great 2020. Even though a lot of bad stuff happened personally for me, I got engaged to Gwen Stefani, and I don’t care what else happened besides that. That made it a great year.
And Shelton actually wrote this song as a love letter to Gwen Stefani. However, the chorus of the song did not sit well with many on Twitter. It goes:
Girl, your love can make a man feel rich on minimum wage.
Now, 2020 was a year of massive economic ramifications. Millions lost their jobs, not only in the United States but across the world with one of the largest economic recessions since the Great Depression, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, that particular lyric did not sit well with many, especially considering that Blake Shelton is a multimillionaire who is trying to romanticize love on minimum wage. And many people called him out, saying that his song seems “tone deaf”:
Appreciate everyone sharing their opinion! I’m certainly willing to hear differing points of view on the song. When I heard it for the first time on NYE, it just rubbed me the wrong way. But I’m really stoked that a lot of you like it and find happiness in the tune!
— Kyle Kramer (@KYLE0REN) January 3, 2021
everyone who works 40 hours a week deserves a living wage pic.twitter.com/lHdlCk9MmF
— cece 🦇 (@cecemado) January 3, 2021
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 #NewYearsRockinEve
— Dr. Jolene Masone (@jkmbassoon) January 1, 2021
Many people rightfully pointed out how Minimum Wage is not exactly relatable to a large chunk of Shelton’s audience. In fact, it could even come off as insensitive or belittling the plight that people learning a minimum wage face.
We are a military family family that had to move from CA to FL on Xmas eve and we couldn’t turn around and go back to get the food we paid for. My kids had Xmas in a trailer but sure- attack me for using a preferred method of customer service. Dude. Get a hobby.
— Julie loves Yang ✨🧢✨ (@mrsjulieholt) January 1, 2021
Lastly, this Twitter user wrote a thread about how the rich instead of glamorizing their wealth are just now insisting that money is not important at all. Because that is the vibe that came off of Blake Shelton’s song.
I feel like the rich are shifting from glamorizing an obscene amount of wealth and blaming poverty on individuals to insisting that money isn't that important while people become homeless and starve en masse
— Amber wants a Green New Deal 🌹 (@Amber_Dawn89) January 1, 2021
Shelton hasn’t yet commented on the backlash. But, what do you think about his song Minimum Wage? Does it really feel that offensive or disconnected from reality? Let us know in the comments below.
