Blake Shelton released a new song on Friday (January 15th) called “Minimum Wage.’  After Blake debuted the song on NBC on New Year’s Eve, it faced some backlash.

Critics on social media said that “Minimum Wage” was tone-deaf because Shelton is a millionaire singing about minimum wage at a time when so many people are struggling.

Blake says he didn’t initially respond to the controversy surrounding his song because it didn’t deserve a response.

“With “Minimum Wage,” at first I thought, ‘Wow, I guess I just, I’ve missed something here,'” he told CMT. “And the more I read into this, I realized this was really not real. Whatever this backlash is is just four or five people that probably don’t know anything about country music. They clearly hadn’t heard the song or read the lyrics.”

He went on to say,  “Just like probably 95 percent of artists out there, I struggled for so long to get by, But at the end of the day, I wouldn’t trade those times for anything.”

“It’s literally a love song about how if times are tight and you ain’t got much money — as long as you have love and you’re happy — at the end of the day, that’s all any of us can really hope for.”

Blake added, “I’m going to put out the records that resonate with me and my life and not look back. As country artists and as an industry, we have to stay focused here and know that what’s right is right. And I believe this song is a great message and I’m proud of it.

LISTEN and let us know what you think below.

Read more of Blake’s Q&A with CMT here.