CMT pulled the music video from Jason Aldean’s song “Try That in a Small Town” because of accusations that the song was racist and “pro-lynching.” The singer is now defending himself against all the accusations leveled against him.
“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,” the country singer said on social media.
“These references are not only meritless, but dangerous,” he further added.
The music video had been running for three days before CMT pulled it off the airwaves, according to reports. While they did decide not to air it any longer, they have declined to comment on their motivation to do so.
The music video in question showed Aldean performing the controversial song in front of Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, with an American flag draped on the entrance.
After the video was released last week, keen observers pointed out that the location held historical significance as it was the same where in the 1920s, an 18-year-old African-American man named Henry Choate was lynched.
Visual footage is shown of protesters burning the American flags while going head-to-head with police officers though it is unclear where the footage is exactly from.
“Cuss out a cop, spit in his face / Stomp on the flag and light it up / Yeah, ya think you’re tough / Well, try that in a small town / See how far ya make it down the road,” Aldean says in the song’s lyrics.
“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,” the lyrics say.
Variety said the song was “the most contemptible country song of the decade,” while people on social media outrightly called the artist “a racist who writes barely concealed lynching songs” and a “violent bigot.”
The song was written by written by Kelley Lovelace, Kurt Allison, Neil Thrasher and Tully Kennedy. And even though the location of the music video holds historical significance when it comes to lynching of African Americans in the United States, the singer vehemently denies that he intended to “point to” race.
“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 said.
The singer said that his song “Try That in a Small Town” merely refers to the “feeling of a community” that he felt growing up. “We took care of our neighbors, regardless of differences of background or belief,” he said.
