When Jason Aldean launched “Try That in A Small Town” in May, the reaction was, well, on a small level.
The country singer is experiencing a noteworthy streak on the music charts, for multiple reasons, and released the controversial music video eight weeks after the song was first made available. The song lost popularity and fell out of the Top 50, initially entering at No. 35 on Billboard’s Hot country songs chart.
After nearly ten years, Jason Aldean’s song “Small Town” became his first number one hit on the country charts, dominating sales and streams. However, the following week, BTS member Jungkook’s heavily promoted solo single “Try” launched behind only Aldean, becoming his biggest pop hit of his career. The track landed at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, selling 228,000 copies and experiencing a 999 percent increase in streams after the release of its music video.
Despite the quick removal of the music video clip from regular rotation on CMT, Aldean’s song has resonated with the audience, receiving support and high numbers. However, the music video was edited by the producers to remove news footage of protests from the Black Lives Matter movement due to copyright clearance issues with a third party. Some have criticized the music video for promoting gun violence, as it takes aim at the movement. The response to “Town Small a In That Try” has been divided and split, as the celebratory moment is not particularly well-received.
Don Cusic, a historian specializing in country music, writer, and music business professor at Belmont University, asserts, “The prevalent division and animosity evident in a significant portion of America today only served to amplify that animosity — it was a blatant and unmistakable display of anger, right in front of you — that’s what the video depicted.” Cusic states, “Especially among the country audience in Trump’s America, many individuals resonated with the emotions conveyed by Jason Aldean.”
Cusic adds that the driving encouragement behind Aldean’s song doesn’t astonish him “because there’s a somber aspect to this nation.”.
Holly Gleason, an acclaimed music journalist, author, and crisis communications consultant, stated that there will be a significant influx of people when they become aware that someone is being silenced due to their convictions, a large number of whom are avid listeners of country radio, and there are numerous individuals who are feeling exasperated.
“They no longer feel aligned and believe that they should not be a part of a system that locks them out or any strong alliance to political concepts. He believes that the numbers don’t necessarily represent all the people who took him as a fan, even though they might be fans of Jason Aldean and country music. I’m not sure about that, but one thing is for sure, Gleason continued. Everybody who showed up shared his political views, and someone who disagreed with his politics shut it down. He once had a vision for a song that was supercharged with something he felt aligned with, and he was struggling to get it on the radio.”
The artist of the decade was announced at the 2019 Academy of Country Music Awards, with Ludacris, Kelly Clarkson, and Carrie Underwood earning five Grammy nominations for their collaborative work. With 21 Top 40 pop chart successes and 10 No. 1 country hits, Georgia native Macon has had a successful career. Since releasing his self-titled debut album, Aldean has achieved platinum-selling success.
The public relations firm that had been working with her husband for a long time decided to terminate their partnership due to recent derogatory remarks made by Brittany Aldean, which included various unfortunate incidents she has been involved in. During a visit to a bar, he displayed inappropriate behavior, allowed the situation to escalate, and tried to justify his indiscretion by claiming that he was intoxicated, when he cheated on his former spouse Jessica Ussery in 2012, with his current wife Brittany Aldean. Additionally, Aldean caused controversy when she dressed up as Lil Wayne for Halloween in 2015, wearing blackface and a wig with long black dreadlocks. While she is a highly successful singer, she has also garnered attention for her controversial actions.
“Attempt That In a Small Town” comprises of lyrics such as: “Verbally abuse a police officer, spit in his face / Trample on the flag and set it ablaze / Yes, you believe you’re resilient / Well, experiment with that in a modest town / Observe the distance you manage to cover on the road,” however Aldean did not compose or oversee its production. In the track, Aldean subsequently croons, “Possess a firearm bestowed upon me by my grandfather / They claim that one day they will apprehend individuals / Well, that situation might be tolerated in the urban area, best of luck.”
According to Philip Ewell, a music theory professor at Hunter College, the song is replete with rhetoric that promotes anti-Black sentiments.
He expressed, “We mustn’t shy away from that straightforward reality. Since it’s a fundamental aspect of our nation’s establishment, prejudice against Black people tends to manifest in our culture. However, it’s merely something that tends to manifest in our culture, this prejudice against Black people. I believe he’s a rather talented artist, I’ve listened to some of Jason Aldean’s music. It’s difficult to ignore some of these ingrained preconceptions. And in music, it manifests in these exceedingly subtle ways at times. Currently, in the year 2023, we are experiencing significant disagreements regarding race and the role it has played in our country’s history.”
Similar to ‘pulling a gun on the owner of a liquor store,’ Ewell uses specific lyrics to emphasize his point. He questions, ‘When someone is robbing a liquor store, the common assumption in the American psyche is that the person doing it is Black, isn’t it?’ He believes that this belief is ingrained in our minds and is meant to be that way. By describing a scenario where someone is pulling a gun on the owner of a liquor store, the person with the gun is typically depicted as Black. On the other hand, the owner of the liquor store is often seen as Asian or possibly white. These racial stereotypes are present in lyrics like these, Ewell clarifies.
“The lyrics incorporate the concept of race. I believe that is quite evident,” he remarked. “Anyone should truly comprehend that there is a prominent racial subtext to these lyrics.”
The music video for “The Life” by Aldean brings to life the lyrics with images of protests, riots, and looting, as well as the burning of the American flag. The video was filmed in front of the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, which was the site of the 1927 lynching of Henry Choate, an 18-year-old Black teenager, and the 1946 race riot.
Cusic said, “There are a lot of people in rural areas who support Trump and they view things differently than those in metropolitan areas. This division is a part of the country, implying that Blacks, as well as whites, need to be careful when looking at pictures of riots. Even though I think Aldean was careful, the production company may have been dividing the country. And,” he said, “if you’re white, you may see a video differently than if you’re Black. You could have been a white guy acting violently in a hoodie, or a Black guy acting violently in a hoodie. What upsets people is the coded pictures and language.”
Third position in maintaining immobility, lasted for a total of 14 weeks at the top spot, “Last Night” by Morgan Wallen and “Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman, performed by Luke Combs, at the second position, with the remarkable achievement of “Try That In a Small Town” making a significant impact on country music’s presence in the pop charts.
“Experience That In A Tiny Village” is akin to songs of contemplation like “Have You Forgotten?” By Darryl Worley and “Something for Stand to Got You’ve” by Aaron Tippin, along with “American Angry The Blue, and White Red the of Courtesy” by Toby Keith, which mentions Gleason and pays homage to living in cities as opposed to rural life, extolling the virtues of country music’s long-standing tradition, as Cusic explains.”
However, when it comes to the video, Aldean had a particular goal in mind.
Gleason stated, “The decisions may have been the footage cutaway, and he wanted to make sure his intentions were clear.” He may have thought that he hadn’t heard the full value of a song, maybe he had strong convictions of being an artist.
Cusic explained, “They were doing what they knew.” “They were pushing that button for that. Now, in this country, there is a giant division — a wall. And instead of taking some of the top bricks off that wall, or at least adding some bricks to it, I think Aldean did the video.”