Jason Aldean's racist song now pacing for #1

[Snow 27,762]

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Aldean first released the song in May, but it wasn't until the release of the video on July 14 — as promotion for his 11th upcoming album — that the discourse ratcheted up.

In a statement released alongside the video, Aldean said the song represents an "unspoken rule" for those raised in small towns: "We all have each other's backs and we look out for each other." The singer is not credited as a writer for the song, as has been the case for most of his 27 hit singles.

After selling around 1,000 copies of the song each day from July 14 through July 17, according to preliminary reports from Luminate, sales rose after Billboard’s July 18 exclusive that CMT had pulled the video. The song earned 12,000 in sales on July 18, before surging to 108,000 in sales on July 19 and 103,000 in sales on July 20. The latest sales total for the week (July 14-20) is 227,000, according to the preliminary reports.

U.S. official on-demand daily streams of “Try That in a Small Town” also exploded over the past week. 

 

[Snow 27,762]

"Small Town" was originally released in May, but never made it on to the Hot 100 and didn't perform well in Country radio.  

The sales and streaming spikes come the same week social media commenters began slamming Aldean and questioning the song’s lyrics and the video’s imagery — with many calling it racist, anti-protest and "pro-lynching".

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Full Lyrics

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"Try That In A Small Town"

Sucker punch somebody on a sidewalk
Car jack an old lady at a red light
Pull a gun on the owner of a liquor store
Ya think it's cool, well, act a fool if ya like
Cuss out a cop, spit in his face
Stomp on the flag and light it up
Yeah, ya think you're tough

Well, try that in a small town
See how far ya make it down the road
'Round here we take care of our own
You cross that line, it won't take long
For you to find out, I recommend you don't
Try that in a small town

Got a gun that my granddad gave me
They say one day they're gonna round up
Well, that shit might fly in the city, good luck

Well, try that in a small town
See how far ya make it down the road
'Round here we take care of our own
You cross that line, it won't take long
For you to find out, I recommend you don't

Try that in a small town
Full of good ol' boys, raised up right
If you're looking for a fight
Try that in a small town
Try that in a small town

Try that in a small town
(See how far ya make it down the road)
'Round here we take care of our own
You cross that line, it won't take long
For you to find out, I recommend you don't
Try that in a small town
Try that in a small town, mm-mm

Try that in a small town

The song is in a three-way battle for #1 against Morgan Wallen's "Last Night" and Jungkook & Latto's "Seven", with "Small Town" surging and closing the gap very rapidly.

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[ilya eilish 1,159]

DISGUSTANG 

[LuranusLur 4,692]

I dd not hear it yet 

[Chris 58,647]

24 minutes ago, LuranusLur said:

I dd not hear it yet 

GOOD. neither have I. 

[Harry. 80]

Just watched the video.. did I miss where it was racist?

Only people that seem to be offended are white people, telling POC what's offensive and what's not. Just look at the comments, who's offended?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1_RKu-ESCY

[ilya eilish 1,159]

12 hours ago, Harry. said:

Just watched the video.. did I miss where it was racist?

Only people that seem to be offended are white people, telling POC what's offensive and what's not. Just look at the comments, who's offended?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1_RKu-ESCY

i'm a POC, and i felt pretty offended. did you immediately assume i was caucasian? 

[StrippedX 5,931]

All these country artists topping charts and nobody outside of the US knows who they are 

[Harry. 80]

15 hours ago, Kaeya said:

i'm a POC, and i felt pretty offended. did you immediately assume i was caucasian? 

idc what you are. I'm talking about comments on the actual music video. Your right to feel offense isn't a reflection of every POC, or LGBT individual for that matter. 

I'm still waiting to hear an explanation on what part of the song / MV was actually racist. 

 

[ilya eilish 1,159]

6 hours ago, Harry. said:

idc what you are. I'm talking about comments on the actual music video. Your right to feel offense isn't a reflection of every POC, or LGBT individual for that matter. 

i never claimed to speak for all POC or LGBTQ+ individuals? 

[Harry. 80]

4 minutes ago, Kaeya said:

i never claimed to speak for all POC or LGBTQ+ individual? 

 

Still waiting to hear what's actually racist about the song, let's get back to track. 

 

[Princess Aurora 31,435]

It sounds like the Rural America soundtrack  

[Harry. 80]

@Kaeya

 

Hey look, another POC who doesn't think it's racist. You're awfully quiet today.

 

[Skyline 16,071]

One problem here is that outraged people are raising awareness of Jason's song, and the Republicans/MAGA Americans are supporting it out of spite because they see him as a "martyr" of "cancel culture" (although obviously his career is fine).

 

I personally don't think the song's lyrics by themselves are racist, but it's the combination of the lyrics with the music video, which is obviously political. He's criticizing people who protest against the police and people who aren't "patriotic" by his standards. The video was shot in front a courthouse where the Lynching of Henry Choate took place in 1927. The average person wouldn't know about it, but it's a problematic choice of location to shoot the video and I'm not convinced that Jason was totally unaware of this. He was looking for controversy and he got it.

[trashbanjo 600]

On 7/22/2023 at 10:53 PM, Harry. said:

idc what you are. I'm talking about comments on the actual music video. Your right to feel offense isn't a reflection of every POC, or LGBT individual for that matter. 

I'm still waiting to hear an explanation on what part of the song / MV was actually racist. 

 

 

On 7/23/2023 at 12:56 AM, Harry. said:

 

Still waiting to hear what's actually racist about the song, let's get back to track. 

 

 

On 7/23/2023 at 9:32 PM, Harry. said:

@Kaeya

 

Hey look, another POC who doesn't think it's racist. You're awfully quiet today.

 

That’s because there isn’t anything racist about it or the music video. Lol. 

[Harry. 80]

22 hours ago, trashbanjo said:

 

 

That’s because there isn’t anything racist about it or the music video. Lol. 

 

The only thing Jason Aldean is guilty of is being a MAGA redneck piece of trash