<\/p>\n
\n\tMore than three months after the video for Jason Aldean<\/a>\u2018s \u201cTry That in a Small Town\u201d was pulled from CMT<\/a> and labeled by some detractors as being pro-gun, pro-violence and akin to a \u201cmodern lynching song<\/a>,\u201d the country star spoke to Audacy\u2019s Coop\u2019s Rockin\u2019 Country Saturday Night<\/em> show about the controversy surrounding the song.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIf you\u2019ve got common sense, you can look at the video and see, I\u2019m not sayin\u2019 anything that\u2019s not true,\u201d said Aldean about the video for the song that features lyrics challenging those who would \u201ccarjack an old lady at a red light,\u201d \u201ccuss out a cop\u201d or \u201cpull a gun on the owner of a liquor store.\u201d The visual found Aldean performing the song in front of the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, TN, the site of the 1927 lynching and hanging of 18-year-old Henry Choate over allegations that he sexually assaulted a white girl, as well as the spot of a 1946 race riot in which two Black men were killed.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIn the video I\u2019m showin\u2019 you what happened \u2014 I didn\u2019t do it, I didn\u2019t create it \u2014 it just happened, and I saw it, and I\u2019m not cool with it,\u201d Aldean said of the clip, which features images of an American flag burning, protesters clashing with police, looters breaking a display case and thieves robbing a convenience store; the video was later seemingly edited to remove images of a Black Lives Matter protest<\/a> following the backlash.<\/p>\n \n\tAldean has continued to say he\u2019s confused about why the song \u2014 which in the new interview he again noted was released in May \u2014 became contentious months later, noting that he thought a line about a handgun was going to be the thing that critics pounced on. \u201cThe biggest issue, I think, people had when we released the song was that it mentioned \u2018having a gun that my grandfather gave me,’\u201d he said of the song whose chorus warns, \u201cWell, try that in a small town\/ See how far you make it down the road\/ Around here, we take care of our own\/ You cross that line, it won\u2019t take long\/ For you to find out, I recommend you don\u2019t\/ Try that in a small town.\u201d <\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI mentioned a gun, that\u2019s a no, no right now and I just remember thinking, \u2018Man, you guys haven\u2019t even seen the video yet,’\u201d he added. Aldean has repeatedly denied that the song, and video, are pro-violence, telling Coop that, \u201cbetween mainstream media and social media, things kind of take on a life of their own. They start making the song and the video into something that it\u2019s not. It\u2019s fine, we just live in a world that does that right now, and I\u2019m not gonna go out and explain myself every time somebody gives their own opinion of what my song or video means.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tShortly after the song\u2019s release, CNN spoke to Tennessee State Rep. Justin Jones \u2014 who earlier this year was expelled, then re-instated to the House after leading a gun control protest on the House floor following a\u00a0school mass shooting<\/a>\u00a0in which three children and three adults were killed \u2014 who condemned what he called a \u201cheinous vile racist song<\/a> that is really about harkening back to days past.\u201d <\/p>\n \n\tJones said he thought it was \u201cno accident\u201d that the video was filmed at the Courthouse, dubbing the track as an attempt to normalize \u201cracist, violence, vigilantism and white nationalism,\u201d while \u201cglorifying\u201d a vision of the South that he said the state is trying to move forward from.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cTry That\u201d hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the last week of July, then fell to No. 21 a week later, marking one of the biggest drops from the top<\/a> in the chart\u2019s history.<\/p>\n \n\tAldean said country music is \u201cblue-collar music, it\u2019s for the every man out there, and that was always my thing \u2014 it\u2019s like, I feel like this.\u201d Conservative media outlets including Fox News have been focusing on what they have said is a drastic uptick in violent crime during the Biden administration and, without getting specific, Aldean seemed to co-sign that view, saying, \u201cI got eyes, I can see what\u2019s goin\u2019 on. I feel like I\u2019ve got common sense and I can see that right is right and wrong is wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe New York Times<\/a> reported this week that murders in the U.S. dropped just over 6% in 2022 compared to 2021, with preliminary figures from the F.B.I. indicating that the decline has accelerated this year; the F.B.I. also said that violent crime was down slightly in 2022 over 2021.<\/p>\n \n\tAldean \u2014 who in the past has courted controversy by wearing a t-shirt featuring a\u00a0confederate flag<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0dressing in blackface<\/a>\u00a0as Lil Wayne for Halloween \u2014 has repeatedly denied that the song had any ill intent.<\/p>\n \n\tIn the Coop interview, he said he doesn\u2019t care \u201cwhich side of the political fence you want to stand on,\u201d and that he stepped up because he felt like nobody \u2014 especially in the music and entertainment industry \u2014 was saying anything about the \u201cwrong\u201d things he was observing. \u201cIt\u2019s very uncommon for someone to say something for fear of losing a job or losing some money\u2026 losing friends or whatever,\u201d he said. \u201cIt just kind of reaches a breaking point to where you\u2019re like \u2018somebody needs to say something, and if nobody\u2019s gonna do it, then I\u2019ll be the guy.’\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tListen to the interview (\u201cTry That in a Small Town\u201d talk begins around 6:30 mark) below.<\/p>\n