Jason Aldean defends ‘Small Town’ song, calls out ‘cancel culture’ – National | 24CA News
Jason Aldean continues to be standing by his controversial new tune, Try That in a Small Town.
While on stage on the Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Friday, Aldean’s viewers listened attentively because the nation singer spoke in regards to the response to his new single. The tune and its music video have been accused of encouraging vigilantism and racial violence.
Aldean, 46, accused “cancel culture” of coming for him and his tune.
“I gotta tell you guys, man, it’s been a long-ass week. It’s been a long week, and I’ve seen a lot of stuff,” Aldean mentioned, referring to the loud opposition to his tune.
“I’ve seen a lot of stuff suggesting I’m this, suggesting I’m that. Here’s the thing, here’s one thing I feel: I feel like everybody’s entitled to their opinion,” he mentioned. “You can think something all you want to, doesn’t mean it’s true, right?”
“What I am is a proud American. I’m proud to be from here.”
The crowd erupted in raucous applause.
“I love our country. I want to see it restored to what it once was before all this bulls— started happening to us,” he concluded. “I love our country, I love my family, and I will do anything to protect that. I’ll tell you that right now.”
The crowd then chanted “U.S.A.”
Aldean went on to talk about “cancel culture” and mentioned persons are hungry to “ruin your life, ruin everything” in the event that they disagree with what you say in public. He mentioned nation music followers have the power to see by way of “a lot of the bulls—.”
After his speech, Aldean carried out Try That in a Small Town for the group.
Many critics have referred to Try That in a Small Town as a “pro-lynching” tune.
The tune was launched in May, although controversy was reignited when the nation artist launched the accompanying music video this month.
Aldean shot the music video for the tune in entrance of Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tenn., the location the place a Black man named Henry Chaote was dragged behind a automotive by a white mob earlier than he was lynched in 1927. The courthouse additionally served as a backdrop for the 1946 Columbia race riots, when Tennessee Highway Patrol officers stormed a Black neighbourhood within the wake of a controversial court docket case.
The music video contains footage of Black Lives Matter protests, lower along with visuals of Aldean singing in entrance of the courthouse. The video additionally featured clips of violent muggings, main some critics to argue that Aldean was conflating protests towards police brutality with violent crime.
Country Music Television (CMT) pulled the music video off the air amid the uproar. The video had been taking part in on the broadcaster’s rotation by way of the weekend earlier than it was eliminated on Monday, in keeping with Billboard.
Aldean earlier defended his tune in an extended assertion posted to Twitter (which is presently rebranding as “X”). He wrote that “there is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it.”
“I can try and respect others to have their own interpretation of a song with music- this one goes too far,” he continued.
“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.”
Confusion round Aldean’s newest tune — which many alleged glorifies gun violence — was intensified by headlines reminding {that a} mass capturing at a 2017 Aldean live performance in Las Vegas left 58 individuals useless and tons of injured within the crowd.
— With recordsdata from Global News’ Kathryn Mannie
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
