Country star Jason Aldean recently experienced backlash after releasing the music video for his song “Try That In A Small Town,” which lambasts the mob violence of Black Lives Matter and Antifa and calls out the poor handling of riots by major cities with progressive governments. Despite concerted backlash from the activist left, the song resonated with many Americans, hitting No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 soon after the music video’s release.
Unsurprisingly, the big-city progressives became unhinged after hearing the song. (READ MORE: Disney’s Snow White Is Further Proof of Hollywood’s Emphasis on Diversity Over Storytelling)
I will say this much: this song absolutely captures everything about the American Right, from the paranoid threats of violence, to the irrational fetishization of communities where everyone acts and thinks the same, to the fact that the singer in fact grew up in a city. https://t.co/8NER303iGm
— Matthew Chapman (@fawfulfan) July 18, 2023
Interspersed throughout the music video, real-life footage shows buildings on fire, police officers being assaulted, and other acts of violence. Aldean sang that if rioters attempted such activities in a small town, then they could “see how far you’d make it down the road.”
Aldean fired back at criticism on Twitter, blasting those who called his song “pro-lynching.”
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.…
— Jason Aldean (@Jason_Aldean) July 18, 2023
Aldean is familiar with violence and the necessity of self-defense, as he was the final performer at the Las Vegas site of the 2017 horrific shooting.
At a performance over the weekend, Aldean reiterated that he refused to be canceled by the mob:
What I am is a proud American. I’m proud to be from here. I love our country. I want to see it restored to what it once was before all this bulls*** started happening to us. I love my country, I love my family, and I will do anything to protect that, I can tell you that right now.
Aldean has demonstrated the value of not backing down from the cancel-culture mob. The song’s Billboard ascendancy confirms that Aldean’s uncompromising stand for order speaks to many Americans who rightly worry that progressive governments are hamstringing police and abetting rampant criminality.
Brayden Dean is a rising senior at the University of Georgia. He studies international relations and political science with a minor in law, jurisprudence, and state. A member of The American Spectator’s intern class of 2023, Brayden enjoys sipping a hot cup of coffee while reading a book.
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