Country music star Jason Aldean is recovering from a health scare he suffered on stage and now he’s dealing with CMT removing his video for “Try That In A Small Town.” The country music artist popular with Conservatives and people with common sense and a good taste for hearty music had his video in rotation on CMT up until July 16, according to an entertainment article on Billboard.
The report further stated that it was unclear how many times CMT played Jason Aldean’s video for “Try That In A Small Town” before they yoinked it out of rotation, and that the CMT also had no comment on WHY they stopped playing the video.
Many conservatives, particularly on Twitter, consider Jason Aldean’s video to be anti-woke and anti-rioting. The song suggests that people wouldn’t dare try rioting or other forms of public and violent crime, such as purse-snatching, in a small town, or else they might face push-back or other consequences for their violent actions. In other words, be held accountable for their bad behavior.
That contention in the song and the impulse behind it is commensurate with what many right-leaning people on social media often suggest. In their view, rioters use social issues as an excuse to loot and get free big-screen televisions or cause chaos without purpose.
At the time of this story being published, Jason Aldean’s video for “Try That In A Small Town” has over 900k views on YouTube, but had just under 350,000 at the time it was taken out of rotation on CMT. Billboard’s entertainment music article also discussed Jason Aldean’s commentary for when the video was released. We love seeing the funny videos come from country artists, but this one is serious and Aldean is defending it.
The report said: “Upon the release of the video on Friday, Aldean posted to his 4.1 million followers on Instragram: “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!”
Upon finding out his video was removed from CMT rotation, Jason Aldean issued a response on Twitter that spoke volumes about his personality and the situation. Jason Aldean’s response on Twitter, posted yesterday afternoon, already has 12 million views, which says a lot about his fans and his critics. It means his message has been seen and now it’s up to people to form their own judgement.
Aldean tore into critics with his response. Beginning, he noted that the song had been slandered by its critics, describing the false accusations about it and calling them dangerous. In his words: “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.”
Continuing, he noted that the song has nothing to do with what critics allege it is about and that the interpretation of the song that some have goes “too far.” He said: “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. 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.”
Continuing, he described what the song is actually about, which is the strength of the ties that bind in small towns, and described the positive attributes of a small town in America’s rural areas over large urban areas, writing, “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 then described what his hope is for the country, the hope the song is really about, saying, “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.”
Jason Aldean’s video hushing critics can be viewed below:
Photo: cropped screenshots from YouTube video
"*" indicates required fields