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Music

Backstreet Boy A.J. McLean Is the Civil Rights Hero Society Has Been Waiting For

Watch the powerful video that was inspired by the CNN app.

"I used to spend all my time on Instagram and social media," says 37-year old Backstreet Boy A.J. McLean in an interview with Rolling Stone. "Then one day, I downloaded the CNN app and became glued to it." This sudden shift in worldview allowed McLean to finally peek from behind the Valencia filter to see the "racial issues, cops killing young black men, the uproar with anti–gay marriage," and moved him to make not just a song, but a video. Now, as a civilization, let us join together in heaping praise onto McLean for becoming the spark that will ignite the revolution with his new video for "Live Together" off his upcoming album The Anthem.

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The video sees McLean wandering through a set designed to resemble his career path with his new friends: a white rapper in oversized athletic clothing, and a man in a cowboy hat. To complete the Village People ensemble, McLean himself seems to have chosen to dress like Justin Bieber on a dare, with his dark clothing and long sleeves allowing him to stay low to the ground while performing his alt-rock/rap verses. It's not easy to change the world, but it's even harder when you don't look fresh as fuck.

A red flag that says 'Life' or maybe 'Lift'

The production of "Live Together" is pretty militant, considering McLean is trying to bring about world peace or whatever. "This song is me taking a stand," said McLean in the interview. "Everyone needs to accept everyone for who they are—gay, straight, black, white." Do you hear that world? You either accept people for who they are, or you can face the wrath of McLean. You think he's joking? Just listen to the chorus, which repeats "We should all live together / or die alone" over and over, and then let me know if that sounds like a man who is joking.

"No, please don't! We live in this car!"

The plot of the video revolves around society going to shit, and an adorable girl with green eyes and flowers going around to stop time and make everyone friends. Don't let the fact that this doesn't make sense stop you from enjoying this visual feast as you watch a cop almost shoot two black men coming out of a bank before the bullet slows down in super cool slow motion. There's also a scene where two men risk their lives to save their car, because the video needs to relate to American values.

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What's the opposite of squad goals?

The rapper on this track is Jordan James, in case you wanted to find a way to preemptively block him from your preferred streaming service. The off-brand K.Fed drops some hot quotables about religion and racism, in case you wanted a white man to really break things down for you.

How many minutes did you spend rehearsing this?

A.J. McLean is doing his best to end racism in his own way, recruiting a white rapper and a black cowboy with a red bandana (a bowboy?) to be in his video. Guess who gets more on-camera time though? So will A.J. McLean be the voice that sparks the revolution? Probably not, but the voice that does go on to spark it will probably laugh at this video.

Slava Pastuk is the Editor of Noisey Canada. Follow him on Twitter.