(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Blake Shelton admits to being a "stereotypical" country music singer.
The 35-year-old Oklahoma-born star has had seventeen singles on the country charts, including nine Number One hits, and is regularly cited as one of America's top country singers.
Blake admits that there is a certain "stereotype" when it comes to western-inspired music, and the singer readily acknowledges that he fits it perfectly.
"People that know me know that I'm a redneck guy that loves to drink and sing country music and go hunting and fishing," he said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.
"Not everybody in the country-music community is like me I just happen to be one of the guys that is stereotypical."
Blake faced allegations of homophobia earlier this year after tweeting "Re-writing my fav Shania Twain song..Any man that tries Touching my behind He's gonna be a beaten, bleedin', heaving kind of guy (sic)." He later clarified that he was writing under Shania's perspective and didn't have any untoward feelings towards gay people.
The singer is a coach on the NBC reality talent show The Voice with Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green and says he didn't realise the repercussions of being in such a popular programme.
"I learned the hard way a couple of times now that being on a television show this big, people are watching everything I say, But I think the reason this is working for me is because my goal was never to be a television star," he said.
"If they fire me, then I already have a job, you know what I mean? I'm just going to be myself, and I'm not going to be afraid to say things other people probably wouldn't because if you don't like it, guess what? Most of the country does."
Blake refuses to "blend in". The confident star hopes to bring a sense of realism to country music, and refuses to shy away from speaking his mind.
"In country music, one of the ways we may have gone wrong in the past is trying to be politically correct all the time," he said.
"I think the worst thing you can do is blend in. Why would you ever want to blend in? I want to stand for something, and it's probably going to be something that some people stand against." (C) Cover Media