Sam Hunt "Take Your Time" Single Review

     I have yet to take on the newest problem facing country music, Sam Hunt. I’ve been hoping that if I ignored him enough, this stupid EDM craze would fade into obscurity. I’m still confident it will, but not before it further erodes the traditions of country music. While I do think that, overall, true country music is beginning to step back into the forefront, there are a few leftover pop wannabes that can hold up the inevitable change. Sam Hunt is the biggest of those hurdles. With his latest single shooting up the charts, he is one of the top dogs in mainstream country right now. His video for that single, “Take Your Time”, was just released to much fanfare. While it has the mainstream dolts heaping praises on him, I find it a pathetic and shameless plug to gain attention. Be impressed all you want, but I refuse to be patronized.

     “Take Your Time” is an absolute train wreck of a song that is not country. It isn’t up for debate. I’ll listen to the arguments of Fla-Ga Line and Luke Bryan fans, but respectfully disagree. Sam Hunt is not country. If you think he is, you are wrong. Period. There is not one iota of the genre hidden in his lame hip-hop wannabe club music. It is bad pop that wasn’t good enough to make it on pop radio (which has seen a surprising increase in quality of late), so he pitched it to the 10 cent hooker of mainstream music: country radio. In a desperate attempt to prove that they are embarrassed of their past and ready to be like the cool kids, mainstream country will accept any rocker, rapper, pop artist, jazz singer, interpretive dancer, ventriloquist, or electric triangle player with open arms. That is, as long as they are not honest-to-goodness, straight from the heart country. That’s for old farts and jackasses, man! Sam Hunt doesn’t even try to put on a pair of boots and a camo hat. He looks like a club DJ/Starbucks employee and sings bad pop. I don’t think Hank done it this way. “Take You Time” tries to play off like he is some kind of gentleman throughout the rapped lyrics, but he still comes off sounding like a creep. I guess just being polite isn’t enough, he is bragging that he doesn’t want a one night stand. Congrats, Sam, you aren’t being a douche. Apparently, in his world, that’s enough credit for a date. I guess maybe the lucky lady was just shocked to find someone in the club who wasn’t popping Molly and raving out that she was all ears. Who knows, I don’t pretend to understand this lifestyle that Sam Hunt univitedly brought unto us.

      When I heard a video was released, I didn’t expect to care. I expected a crappy video for a crappy song. But, after watching it, I am shocked at the level Sam Hunt will stoop to to earn a buck. The video is a pathetic, pandering look at domestic violence, and its sole purpose is to create a brand for Sam Hunt. This song has nothing to do with domestic violence. That’s forgivable enough, maybe he just wanted to use a popular song to promote a charity, raise awareness, or honor a friend. Nope. There is no charity. There is no message. Instead, as a woman who is abused is attempting to run, guess who pops in to save the day? Our hero, Sam Hunt. What a guy. He sweet talks us at the club AND saves from abusers. Man of the year! It’s pretty disgusting and insulting that Sam Hunt would use something as terrible as domestic abuse as a way to make himself look like some kind of hero. That is the point of this video. In reality, the woman who has the courage to stand up for herself and get out is the real hero. In this video, she has to rely on Sam Hunt to swoop in and save her. I’m not one to cry sexism, racism, or any other ism at every little offense, but I’ll be shocked if this doesn’t tick off some feminist groups. Of course, with the way that the bros of country treat woman on the regular, Sam Hunt’s people probably thought this was a good move. You may fool the uneducated (or apathetic) masses into this, but you aren’t fooling me. You are not a hero, you’re an opportunist. An opportunist who is using a very serious issue to prop yourself up and build your brand. That’s pathetic.

      Look, if you like Sam Hunt, this song, or even the video, that’s your business. Different things speak to different people. Maybe you don’t care about the motives behind it, you just like the results. Fine by me. But, for those of you who look at things a little deeper, you’ll see that this song is a farce, the video is a farce, and the artist is a farce. This is all a giant money-grab, nothing more and nothing less. Fear not, my traditional leaning country music brothers and sisters, this trend will pass. Whether it will be replaced with an even worse trend is yet to be seen. But, this EDM experiment is not going to rise as big as bro-country. Jerrod Neimann already proved that this stuff as little-to-no shelf–life. Until then, we will wait (and complain). Stay away from this song and video, as it does nothing to progress the cause it claims to champion, and rather only exists to create a narrative of the artist in your head. You can do better than that. Sam Hunt is a record label experiment that will disappear soon enough, and making dumb decisions like this video will only speed that up.