https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdVdCI5avHI Album: G N 'R Lies (1998) One in a Million is probably the most racist song ever to appear on a multi-platinum album. Period. With lines like "immigrants and f------, they make no sense to me/they come to our country, and think they'll do as they please" and "Police and n-----, that's right, get out of my way/don't need to buy none of your gold chains today" it was bound to cause controversy, and came with a pre-printed apology of sorts in the liner notes to G N' R Lies (which was produced to look like a tabloid paper). The song was written by Axl Rose - marking the first time Rose wrote a Guns song on guitar, as he usually composed with a piano - and was played on by then lead guitarist Slash, who happens to be half black. Rose defended the song for several years, saying that it was a response to how he felt upon arriving in L.A. from a small town, being attacked in the past by police, and various other confrontations, including an attempted robbery of him by black suspects, but over time softened his stance, and considered taking the song off the album. He would address the song multiple times, which was continually used against the band in the press. "I'm on a fence with that song. It's a very powerful song. I feel, as far as artistic freedom and my responsibility to those beliefs, that the song should exist. That's the only reason I haven't pulled it off the shelves. Freedom and creativity should never be stifled. Had l known that people were going to get hurt because of this song, then I would have been wrong. I was definitely wrong in thinking that the public could handle it." And later, "We don't perform "One in a Million." I've only performed the song twice. I don't perform it, because I think it's too dangerous and I don't trust people with the song. I don't trust the audience with the song. I don't want to do "One in a Million" on stage and know that there's a lot of people out there in the crowd who are prejudiced and it's gonna help fuel their fire. It's enough to handle the fact that it's on a record and people use it for their own anthems for their own prejudiced-ness. I question myself every day. Should I pull it? Should I leave it? Do I leave it for the sake of artistic integrity? Do I pull it, do I censor myself? But wait, I'm against censorship. It's a really hard issue to constantly deal with. The only way to deal with it is to communicate about it. I don't like the damage that that song does, I don't like the prejudiced-ness, I don't like the way the song fuels people's prejudiced-ness, and that's a problem for me."
Primarily covering the sport of MMA from Ontario, Canada, Jay Anderson has been writing for various publications covering sports, technology, and pop culture since 2001. Jay holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Guelph, and a Certificate in Leadership Skills from Humber College.