Jason Aldean’s New Track & Video Criticized as a Pro-Gun, ‘Modern Lynching Song’ by Some Listeners

Over the weekend, Jason Aldean made an early exit from his concert in Hartford, Conn., due to intense heat, but now the singer-songwriter is again catching heat — this time for his new song and music video, “Try That in a Small Town,” which is garnering a flurry of responses and criticism on social media.

Aldean posted the video on social media along with the message, “When u grow up in a small town, it’s that unspoken rule of ‘we all have each other’s backs and we look out for each other.’ It feels like somewhere along the way, that sense of community and respect has gotten lost. Deep down we are all ready to get back to that. I hope my new music video helps y’all know that u are not alone in feeling that way. Go check it out!”

“Try That in a Small Town” was written by Kelley Lovelace, Kurt Allison, Neil Thrasher and Tully Kennedy, and produced by Aldean’s longtime producer Michael Knox.

The song and video have riled some listeners, who are taking issue with lyrics that some fans are considering pro-gun and racist. The lyrics begin by describing how those in a small town might react to various incidents — including carjackings and robberies. But the song also lists other infractions in lyrics such as “Cuss out a cop, spit in his face/ Stomp on the flag and light it up/ Yeah ya think you’re tough.”

From there, the chorus seemingly issues a warning to social justice warriors, advising them not to try their mischief in the rural South, most notably on lyrics including “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/recommend you don’t.”

The video features Aldean performing in front of a small-town courthouse draped with an American flag, interspersed with footage of protests, cars and flags burning, and smash and grab robberies, followed at the end with images of people raising American flags and talking about showing up to help neighbors.

Many on social media criticized the song’s messaging, with one commenter noting the choice of filming location for the music video, while another commenter called the track a “modern lynching song.”

Others criticized Aldean for releasing a song with a pro-gun message, when it was Aldean who was onstage at Las Vegas’ Route 91 Harvest Festival in 2017, when a gunman killed more than 60 people. Additionally, many called out Aldean for recording a song that seemingly supports “small town values,” and pointing out the many mass shootings that have occurred in smaller towns.

“Uvalde? Small town. VA Tech? Small college town. Newtown? Small New England town. Parkland? Small town that had just been voted Florida’s safest town. Most mass shootings occur in small towns,” another user wrote, tagging Aldean. “Your listeners are dying,” she criticized.

Others praised the song as opposing left-leaning politics.

Billboard has reached out to Aldean’s reps for comment.

The official music video for the song has been viewed more 300,000 times so far on YouTube. See the full video below:

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