There’s nothing the liberal media loves more than a good “country music is racist” narrative. We’ve seen it time and time again, particularly surrounding Morgan Wallen. Of course, his n-word incident in 2021 became the talk of the music industry for a good year or two, but regardless of how many black rappers or pro athletes hangout with him and dismiss any notion that he’s a racist, any mention of his name sends packs of woke white women into a frenzy to this day (just ask Hayley Williams). And any association with Morgan, whether it’s Tate McRae or more recently, Ella Langley (perhaps Drake will be next), immediately gets you branded as MAGA in their eyes. It’s so exhausting and performative…
But Morgan isn’t alone… Luke Combs found himself in hot water for a Confederate Flag sticker that he had on his guitar in a 2015 music video. Oliver Anthony was called a right-wing industry plant when “Rich Men North Of Richmond” went viral. And then he was subsequently called a racist in response to the verse complaining about his tax dollars buying Little Debbie Fudge Rounds for people on welfare. Carrie Underwood has been called MAGA for singing at the Presidential Inauguration, Jelly Roll caught heat for not speaking against ICE at the Grammys… all of it serves to lazily brand country music, as an entire industry, under some manufactured banner of “racism.”
And when it comes to music, no song was more controversial than Jason Aldean’s 2023 song, “Try That In A Small Town.” Many saw that song as a resonating plea for the end of lawlessness and crime that is plaguing our big cities. And if you’ve spent time in an major city in the past 10 years, you know that things got pretty bad during the heigh of the pandemic… violent crime, car jackings, armed robberies, and then you have the safety of public transit, teen takeovers, smash and grab burglary, rioting and looting during protests and moments of civil unrest. And the worst part is that many cities refuse to punish criminals. Bad leadership has police afraid to do police work, district attorneys and judges let criminals walk… I lived in Chicago for 16 years before I moved out in 2023, I saw it all happen right in front of my eyes. The city fundamentally changed. Criminals were empowered and emboldened… thanks Brandon Johnson.
However others, blinded by their own delusions, called it a racist anthem that promotes violence against black people. And much like everything else these days, nuance be damned, the love/hate for the song seemed to fall right along party lines. Republicans generally showed up big for it, while Democrats were begging for it to be removed from circulation. CMT actually went ahead and removed it from their music video rotation (you know, when they actually play music videos at 2 in the morning).
The music video was a driver for a lot of the backlash because it was filmed in front of the courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, which is actually a very popular backdrop for music videos, movies and television. Hannah Montana filmed there, Runaway June filmed a music video there, “A Nashville Country Christmas” with Tanya Tucker was filmed there, Mario Lopez and Jana Kramer filmed some terrible Lifetime Christmas movie there… the list goes on because it’s a pretty popular place. But it was also the location of a lynching nearly 100 years ago, and prominent location during the Columbia race riot in 1946. So naturally, the leap from the liberal media was that Jason Aldean must have intentionally chose that location because he is an evil racist. When the reality was that Jason Aldean had nothing to do with the decision, and that it’s a popular filming location with relative proximity to Nashville. And never mind the fact that the video largely features rioting from white ANTIFA kids…
The outrage was just absurd… but in a recent conversation with Billboard, Aldean says he still stands by that message, despite all th4e backlash that it brough him.
“Probably got more negative press on it than I hoped it would, but I’ve said, you know, I stand by the song. I feel like it was how I felt at the time and what I wanted to say, and I wasn’t gonna back down from that.
Did I think it was gonna start a conversation, or did I want it to? Yeah, absolutely. That’s the whole reason I put it out. Did I think it was gonna be what it became, being accused of all these things? No, I didn’t expect that. But I’m also not a guy that’s gonna go out there and, I’m not gonna go, ‘Well, no, that’s not what I meant. Oh, well, no, you got…’ Like, listen. This is my view. This is how I feel. This is my song. This is my vision for the video. Read between the lines, you get what I’m saying. And we’re all looking at the same TV screen. How am I seeing something different than you’re seeing? I don’t know, man. If you’re cool with that, that’s fine. I’m not.
It has nothing to do with, with race or anything else. It’s got to do with, to me, it’s right, wrong, and that’s just it. If you’re scared to put out music or scared to put out songs, or, or tell people how you feel, you know, because you’re scared they’re gonna call you a racist or they’re scared whatever, like, that’s bull****. I’m just not gonna do that. If there’s something I want to say and something that I feel like needs to be said, and that’s fine, I’m gonna put it out. I’m also very self-aware. I’m not gonna do anything that I think is out of line. In this instance, that song, I didn’t feel that way.”
Well said… and good on Jason Aldean for never backing down to the woke mob.
Of course, Jason is at the point in his career where he is well-established, and he can afford to say whatever he wants, whenever he wants. Artists still coming up feel a ton of pressure to fall in line and not ruffle too many feathers. In a similar situation for a less established artist, it would be really easy to walk it back or issue a statement clarifying “what you really meant.” And the liberal media LOVES to give people who see the world differently than them the “opportunity to explain,” which really means “take it back and agree with me.”
Jason Aldean has had every chance to talk about this song, and he’s remained consistent in the messaging every single time… and that message simple is this: Rampant crime and lawlessness is bad for society and that it wouldn’t fly in a small town. Hard to argue with that…
