Country Music Television (CMT) has decided to pull the music video for Jason Aldean’s song “Try That in a Small Town” amid accusations of offensive lyrics and messages. The video, which was released in May, was filmed at the site of a lynching in Columbia, Tennessee, and features violent news footage and protests.
The Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, where the video was shot, is known for the 1927 mob lynching of Henry Choate, an 18-year-old Black man. Throughout the video, an American flag is draped between the courthouse’s central pillars, while Aldean, strumming a guitar, lists behaviors that he imagines would not be well received in a small town, such as “carjacking an old lady,” “cussing out a cop,” and “stomping on the flag.”
State Representative Justin Jones of Tennessee, a Democrat, took to Twitter to condemn the song. He described it as a “heinous song calling for racist violence” that promotes a “shameful vision of gun extremism and vigilantism.”
CMT confirmed through email that they stopped airing the video on Monday without providing any explanation for their decision. Billboard was the first to report the news.
Aldean defended himself on Twitter, stating that he had been accused of releasing a racist song and expressing dissatisfaction with the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. He asserted that these accusations are meritless and dangerous. According to Aldean, none of the lyrics reference race, and the video clips are all real news footage. He believes that while interpretations of the song may vary, this particular one goes too far.
Referencing his performance at the 2017 Las Vegas music festival, where a gunman killed 58 people, Aldean said, “NO ONE, including me, wants to continue to see senseless headlines or families ripped apart.” He explained that the song is about the feeling of community he experienced growing up and the desire for a sense of normalcy.
BRB Music Group, which represents Aldean, has not provided any comment regarding the controversy.
It remains to be seen how this controversy will impact Aldean’s career and future releases. As debates about race, gun violence, and social justice continue to grip the nation, the boundaries and responsibilities of artists are being scrutinized more closely.