New Jason Aldean Music Video Makes Clear That Stoking Controversy Is (Sometimes) Good for Business

First it was Kid Rock. Then, it was Garth Brooks. 

And now, another country music star is wading into the culture wars debate.

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Quadruple-platinum "My Kinda Party," singer Jason Aldean ruffled feathers with the release of his new song "Try That in a Small Town," which is being hailed by the right wing as a "good angle" and by the left as a "modern lynching song." 

The music video of the song, which runs three minutes and eight seconds, was released on Friday. It portrays imagery from recent scenes across the U.S., including masked vandals looting storefronts, protestors giving the middle finger to armed police officers, and American flags burning. 

"Sucker punch somebody on a sidewalk / Carjack an old lady at a red light / Pull a gun on the owner of a liquor store / Ya think it's cool, well, act a fool if ya like," the country song begins. 

"Well, try that in a small town / See how far ya make it down the road / Around here, we take care of our own / You cross that line, it won't take long / For you to find out, I recommend you don't / Try that in a small town," the chorus goes, with the next line ringing proudly, "Got a gun that my granddad gave me / They say one day they're gonna round up / Well, that shit might fly in the city. Good luck."

Watch the full video below: 

Jason Aldean just released an absolutely epic music video for the song "Try That In a Small Town" that rips into the left-wing riots, soft on crime governance in cities, gun control, and other leftist degradation. pic.twitter.com/dUYzGbnvc6— Greg Price (@greg_price11) July 17, 2023

Responses to the release were mixed. 

"He is right you know. I just downloaded it," one user commented. 

"Amen! He’s not wrong!" another chimed in. 

"Nobody can be shocked by Jason Aldean writing a racist as fuck song," another wrote.

"Jason Aldean wrote the modern lynching song and not one person bothered to say along the way: perhaps don’t do that," one user wrote.

Jason Aldean, for his part, responded to the blowback on Twitter, where most of the dialogue about the song is being debated. 

"When u grow up in a small town, it’s that unspoken rule of “we all have each other’s backs and we look out for each other.” It feels like somewhere along the way, that sense of community and respect has gotten lost. Deep down we are all ready to get back to that. I hope my new music video helps y’all know that u are not alone in feeling that way. Go check it out!" he wrote on July 14 with a link to the song. 

But the song has officially caught on, garnering nearly 400,000 views since its release. Country Music Television (CMT) pulled "Try That in a Small Town," this week after having it in rotation over the past weekend (7/14-7/16). The music television station confirmed it pulled the video but has not issued reasoning over its decision to do so.

So Aldean hopped on Twitter once again to defend his position in a long post that has now been viewed almost 13.5 million times:

"In the past 24 hours I have been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song (a song that has been out since May) and was subject to the comparison that I (direct quote) was not too pleased with the nationwide BLM protests."

"These references are not only meritless, but dangerous. There is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it- and there isn’t a single video clip that isn’t real news footage -and while I can try and respect others to have their own interpretation of a song with music- this one goes too far," he wrote. 

In the past 24 hours I have been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song (a song that has been out since May) and was subject to the comparison that I (direct quote) was not too pleased with the nationwide BLM protests. These references are not only meritless, but dangerous.…— Jason Aldean (@Jason_Aldean) July 18, 2023

Aldean also reminded his audience that in October 2017 he was on stage at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival in Las Vegas, when Stephen Paddock fired 1,000 rounds into the crowd, killing 60 people and injuring over 860 more. 

"As so many pointed out, I was present at Route 91-where so many lost their lives- and our community recently suffered another heartbreaking tragedy," he wrote. 

To this day, the Las Vegas massacre remains the deadliest shooting incident by a lone gunman in U.S. history.

"NO ONE, including me, wants to continue to see senseless headlines or families ripped apart. Try That In A Small Town, for me, refers to the feeling of a community that I had growing up, where we took care of our neighbors, regardless of differences of background or belief. Because they were our neighbors, and that was above any differences," he wrote. 

"My political views have never been something I’ve hidden from, and I know that a lot of us in this Country don’t agree on how we get back to a sense of normalcy where we go at least a day without a headline that keeps us up at night. But the desire for it to- that’s what this song is about."

Aldean -- who has sold over 13.5 million albums and counting -- has been open about his politics in the past, claiming it's difficult to be right of center in show business. 

“At some point it’s gotten to where if you’re a conservative in this business, you’re not allowed to speak,” Aldean said. 

“Trust me, I have a lot of friends in this business that think the way I think, and a lot of them are really scared to stand up and say anything for fear of backlash or whatever the case may be. To me, it’s hard for to go lay my head down at night with a clear conscience, feeling like I’m a coward for not saying the things that I want to say, or I feel like need to be said.”