Turn Up for Hick Hop?

"The mixtape's got a little Hank, little Drake" So says country superstar duo Florida Georgia Line in their smash single from the spring of 2014, “This Is How We Roll.” This is not just an empty boast, either. Listen to the second verse while imagining Drake as a white, Southern, bro-country artist: "Up on them 37 Nittos, windows tinted hard to see though [...] Them kisses are for me though, automatic like a free throw This life I live it might not be for you, but it's for me though" Not only is the rhetoric Drake worthy – extolling the virtues of a uniquely superior lifestyle - but the way he rhymes “though” using a slang pronunciation three times in close succession, why, it even sounds like Drake! On another track, their “Cruise Remix” video featuring Nelly, Florida Georgia Line also supply imagery indicative of their genre-blending. While some rap music has long been accused of focusing on cash, cars, drugs, and women, FGL show that this is redneck thematic territory as well; just observe the expensive rides and seductively southern dames: Likewise, through artful alliteration, the boys name-drop their party drink as well: "She was sippin' on Southern and singin' Marshall Tucker" And this is all before we get to Nelly’s impassioned verse, which he contributes, according to the video’s opening scene, to help them learn how to “turn up.” Judging by “This Is How We Roll” as a follow-up, it is obvious FGL have learned the lesson well –- so well that they have been influenced even by the structure of Hip-Hop, bringing in one of their homies for a guest verse: Luke Bryan, himself known to get turnt by mixing a little Conway with some T-Pain every once in a while Some people, though, are instead turning this trend down. While peeping their video on YouTube reveals over 16 million views (as of 7/17/14), the comments section is filled with vitriolic rants. One such comment puts it this way: “Hick-Hop. Manufactured, lame, corporate horse crap. This is a disgrace to country music. Johnny Cash is rolling over in his grave right now.” Really? The same Johnny Cash who was the OG Southern thug! The same Johnny Cash who put so much conviction into singing lines like: "I took a shot of cocaine and I shot my woman down" "When I was arrested I was dressed in black" "I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die" We’re talking the “Man In Black” himself! I think he’d welcome the chance, were he still alive, to pal around with some new school gangsters, and, presented with an opportunity for a remix, would probably choose to turn up instead of turn it down!