The country singer's controversial music video also sparked outrage with the images he selected.
Jason Aldean is getting some backlash for his new controversial track, "Try That in a Small Town," which some critics describe as tone-deaf and divisive.
Just days after he ran off stage in Hartford, Connecticut, after what he said was the result of heat exhaustion, the 46-year-old country singer is sparking backlash over the pro-gun lyrics to his new track, as well as the images depicted in the song's music video.
Some of his more incendiary lyrics include, "Got a gun that my granddad gave me / They say one day they're gonna round up / Well, that s**t might fly in the city, good luck / Try that in a small town / See how far ya make it down the road / 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."
Aldean further stoked the flames with the music video, whose backdrop included an American flag displayed on the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee -- the site of the 1927 lynching of Henry Choate. Some of the more inflammatory images used in the music video included interlacing clips of protestors vandalizing cities in the wake of police brutality and racial unrest during the height of the pandemic. His lyrics seemingly endorses "good ol' boys, raised up right" taking matters into their own hands by "taking care of our own."
The country singer took to social media on Tuesday, saying, "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 is not 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."
The statement continued, "As many pointed out, I was present at Route 91 where so many lost their lives -- and our community recently suffered another heartbreaking tragedy. 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. 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."
The music video’s production company, Tacklebox, confirmed to ET on Tuesday that the location is a "popular filming location outside of Nashville" and cited several music videos and films that have been filmed there-including most recently the Lifetime Original movie Steppin’ into the Holiday with Mario Lopez and Jana Kramer, a music video from Runaway June titled “We Were Rich” a Paramount holiday film A Nashville Country Christmas with Tanya Tucker -- as well the Hannah Montana film. The production company says, "Any alternative narrative suggesting the music video’s location decision is false." Tacklebox also noted Aldean did not pick the location.
Aldean survived a deadly mass shooting when he was onstage at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in 2017 in Las Vegas, where 58 concertgoers were killed and nearly 500 others injured in the tragic shooting.
Six months after he survived the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, Aldean told ET about how the devastating attack affected him, explaining, "I think it makes you kinda grow up in a lot of ways."
Just over a year later, in November 2018 in Thousand Oaks, California, a lone gunman entered the Borderline Bar & Grill, which was hosting college country night, and sprayed bullets with his .45-caliber pistol, killing 12 people. Aldean, appearing on SiriusXM's CMA Awards Radio, explained that gun violence is so prevalent in this country he's essentially become immune to the tragedies.
"I hate to say this but it's almost not surprising anymore," he explained at the time. "It happens so often ... But that's how ridiculous I feel it is. It's almost like I'm not even shocked anymore when I wake up and hear that because it seems like it's happening all the time, which is the saddest thing."
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