Jason Aldean's 'Try That in a Small Town' becomes biggest hit of his career amid racial controversy
Despite many decrying its accompanying music video for allegedly perpetuating racism, Jason Aldean's "Try That in a Small Town" is now the highest-charting hit of his career.
The controversial single — which includes lyrics that suggest gun violence — entered the American charts at No. 2 on Tuesday, finishing just behind BTS member Jung Kook's Latto-featuring single "Seven," according to Billboard. The song posted 228,000 sales — the "biggest sales week for a country song in over 10 years," according to Billboard — while its No. 2 placement on the chart was further bolstered by a 547 percent increase in streaming (11.6 million plays) and 7.3 million impressions on radio.
The song's placement comes days after Aldean, 46, addressed the fallout on stage at a concert in Ohio, blaming "cancel culture" for the furor surrounding the single.
"It's been a long week, and I've seen a lot of stuff. I've seen a lot of stuff suggesting I'm this, suggesting I'm that. Here's the thing, here's one thing I feel: I feel like everybody's entitled to their opinion," Aldean said. "You can think something all you want to, it doesn't mean it's true, right?"
While the song's lyrics have come under fire, its music video was widely condemned for juxtaposing real-life news footage of protests around the country with lyrics like, "Got a gun that my granddad gave me / They say one day they're gonna round up / Well, that s--- might fly in the city, good luck." The video was subsequently pulled from the CMT network.
"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 [Black Lives Matter] protests," the country singer tweeted in response, labeling the claims "meritless" and "dangerous" in his post. "While I can try and respect others to have their own interpretation of a song with music — this one goes too far."
The ladies of The View were among the song's most vocal detractors, with cohosts Sunny Hostin and Whoopi Goldberg ripping the performer for seemingly directing the tune at Black Lives Matter protestors.
"He talks about life in a small town, and it's different, and he chose these images. He's got folks from the Black Lives Matter movement, and he's talking about people taking care of each other, and I find it so interesting that it never occurred to Jason or the writers that that's what these folks were doing," Goldberg said on the talk show's July 20 broadcast. "They were taking care of the people in their town because they didn't like what they saw."
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