![]() Adkins is a purist, and “Dangerous Man” offers yet more proof. ![]() One of his best pre-badonkadonk hits, “Rough and Ready,” shrank his autobiography to a series of country-music signifiers: “Scarred-up knuckles, Mack belt buckle/White T-shirt, ain’t afraid to work.” And the hit that changed his career came from an album called, pointedly, “Songs About Me.” ![]() He has a robust baritone voice and a catalog of songs about his own country identity. Do they also have to be Southern? Do they also have to be blue-collar? (Does this song turn a race-based asset into a class-based one?) Or will the combination of beer and country music make any object appear bigger than it really is? (One word: britches.)īut what about anatomy? Do his “honky tonk” women really look different? And if so, why? One presumes that they’re mainly (though maybe not exclusively) white. The “honky tonk badonkadonk” he sings about has nothing to do with hip-hop: you can hear the cultural context in his country drawl, in the raunchy Southern-rock guitars, in the carefully chosen slang. Adkins mishmashed this mishmash some more. (Though Spoonie Luv never described it that way.) The term evoked both black culture and black anatomy: like the concept of race itself, “badonkadonk” was a mishmash of nurture and nature. The word was a black thing, and so, went the implicit logic, was the thing it described. It was used by the African-American comedian Tracy Morgan, as the single-minded Spoonie Luv, on Comedy Central’s “Crank Yankers.” Missy Elliott played with the pronunciation when she rapped, “Keep your eyes on my ba-bump-ba-bump-bump/And think ya can handle this ga-donk-ga-donk-donk.” And the rapper Twista tried to cash in with a song called “Badunkadunk” in early 2004. Only a few years ago “badonkadonk” was considered strictly hip-hop slang sly onomatopoeia for the imaginary sound made by a decidedly nonimaginary asset. It’s hard to tell whether he’s trying to play down the success of “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk” or play it up. And while the iron is still hot, he’s striking again, with a new album, “Dangerous Man” (Capitol Nashville), due out on Tuesday. But that song, from an album that was released in March 2005, has made him a celebrity. He was a country star before he turned his attention to the subject of snug britches. Trace Adkins is the lucky singer who can expect those seven syllables to appear in the first paragraph of his obituary. So: how do you solve a problem like “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk”? To different listeners the seven syllables in the title seem like shorthand for the best, or the worst, or the weirdest that Nashville has to offer. (Or if not weep, then stare sheepishly at their shoes.) It’s a clumsy song whose name alone can make radio programmers weep. It’s a charming song whose name alone can make Coyote Ugly dancers whoop. These are just some of the imponderables you’ll find in one of the most inescapable country-music hits of the last few years. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License additional terms may apply.What could possibly inspire a proud, seemingly virtuous man to “slap your grandma”? And if he’s feeling so slap happy, then why is he so eager to “get the sheriff on the phone”? What would it mean, truly, for a young woman to have it “goin’ on like Donkey Kong”? And finally to address the young woman at the center of the controversy: “Lord have mercy, how’d she even get them britches on?” It peaked at #2 on the Hot Country Songs chart in early 2006, behind "Jesus, Take The Wheel" by Carrie Underwood. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for the week of October 1, 2005. The song was officially released later in that same year and debuted at #56 on the U.S. ![]() "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" entered the Hot Country Songs chart in early 2005 at #58 based on unsolicited airplay. Within an hour, the three had written the song. Houser came up with the title "honky tonk badonkadonk," in reference to the slang term "badonkadonk," which references shapely buttocks. According to Jamey Johnson, who co-wrote the song with Dallas Davidson and Randy Houser, the idea for "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" came when Johnson, Davidson, and Houser were watching a young woman dancing at a club. Its ringtone also received more than 75,000 downloads. It was also certified gold for more than 500,000 musical downloads. Billboard Hot 100 and Pop 100 charts, making it his first top 40 hit on both charts. Hot Country Songs chart and reaching the top 40 on both the U.S. The song was a crossover hit for Adkins, peaking at #2 on the U.S. It was released in October 2005 as the third and final single from his album Songs About Me. ![]() "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" is a song recorded by American country music artist Trace Adkins. ![]()
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