It appears Jason Aldean is running for local office, y’all.
In a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, Jason was asked more about political topics and racial issues than his brand new 11th studio album, “Highway Desperado,” that dropped everywhere today. In fact, so much so, one could assume he’s currently running for governor or hell, even president.
Sure, there were other questions asked, such as if it ever gets old having a song go #1 or a condescending question about his age and if it’s “hard” to witness other artists in their early 30’s pretty much pass him by, but that’s about where it ends.
Even when Aldean was simply asked about what it was like growing up in his hometown of Macon, Mikael Wood just couldn’t help himself and followed Jason’s response by saying “Macon is a racially mixed city.“
“I grew up playing sports with Black teammates. I grew up playing music with Black musicians. We live on this side of the track, they live on that side — it was never that kind of sh*t. So to act like it’s some new development for me as I’ve gotten into adulthood, that I’m trying to learn how to interact with a different race is f—ing stupid.“
And of course, it continued from there:
“Do you think systemic racism exists? The idea that racism is encoded into American life and American law. Essentially the opposite of white privilege.“
“I don’t know what it’s like to be a Black person. And I wasn’t raised to be a white person that had all these privileges. So I don’t really know how I feel about all that stuff. I can’t really speak on that.”
Mikael then pushed back further, (because of course he did), stating; “You have to know how you feel. You’re a person living in the world.“
“Yeah, but I can’t speak on how Black people feel about white people. I mean, the white privilege thing — I didn’t grow up with white privilege. So I don’t know how to answer that.”
And if you thought the line of questioning couldn’t get any worse, Mikael may as well have said “hold my beer,” or probably his sugar cookie almondmilk frappuccino. (Yes, I had to look up the Starbucks menu on google to know that was a real drink).
“White men still dominate this next generation. Does country music over-index on straight white dudes?“
At this point, If I’m Jason Aldean, I’m ending the the interview there, but I’m not and he didn’t. Instead he answered with this:
“Maybe? I like to think that if you’re a talented artist and your songs are good and you’re a great performer, then somebody’s gonna give you a chance, whether you’re a guy, a female, a duo, a band, whatever. Male artists seem to have dominated the genre a little bit over the last however many years. But you also have some great female acts: Carrie and Miranda, and Carly Pearce is coming up now.”
Jason was also asked about his feud with Maren Morris and his concert at the Bridgestone Arena where he joked that she would be joining him on stage, leading the audience to boo:
“The stuff with her is so far off my radar at this point. I’ve never talked to her for more than probably 10 seconds. So I don’t really have an opinion about her. The only thing I knew was that she was coming after my wife in the media. Obviously, her and I are on completely different ends of the spectrum as far as our beliefs. But I don’t know her at all, truly. That’s what was so weird for me: This chick’s coming after us, and I’ve never even talked to her before. Yet she claimed to know so much about me and my wife somehow.”
Here’s a look at the rest of his sit down with the Los Angeles Times, and trust me, it gets worse:
You sing, “Around here we take care of our own.” You don’t think someone could hear that as white people circling the wagons?
I mean, you could take it as that if that’s how you want to take it. But the way you take it, versus the way I said it and meant it, it’s not necessarily accurate. It’s a very simple message: What I see happening, I’ve never seen that in the towns I grew up in in Georgia. It just doesn’t happen, and it wouldn’t last.
What do you make of the effort among people in the so-called Americana scene to create more room for women and queer people and people of color?
I just think it goes back to the talent. To me, it’s more about that than trying to make sure we get one of these and one of these.
Was Joe Biden legitimately elected president?
Depends on who you ask.
I’m asking you.
I feel like that’s just old news at this point. And regardless of if he was or wasn’t, he’s been the president for the last three years.
Do you want Donald Trump to be the Republican party’s presidential nominee?
It wouldn’t hurt my feelings. I like Trump. Hung out with him a couple times — been very cool to me. I have nothing but good things to say about the guy.
The people who’ve been jailed for taking part in the Jan. 6 insurrection — is that right or wrong?
I’m not OK with destroying property, lawlessness, rioting, any of those things. I think it was not a good look. We have law and order for a reason. If we choose to set those laws aside and do whatever we want, it’s chaos, and I’m not cool with that.
Did you get a COVID vaccine?
No. I felt like I’m a healthy guy, and this was a vaccine that Trump was pushing at the end of his office and Biden was saying, “Oh, don’t do it — it’s too soon.” Then as soon as Biden gets in: “Everybody get the shot.” [Note: In September 2020, Biden said, “I trust vaccines. I trust scientists. But I don’t trust Donald Trump. And at this point, the American people can’t, either.”] To me it was like, I don’t really know what’s going on here, so I’m just gonna stay away from it. That’s what I decided to do, and I’m very happy with my decision.
Part of the way you’ve framed “Try That in a Small Town” is that you’re saying something you’re not supposed to say. Does the song’s success undercut the idea that you’re voicing an unpopular opinion?
Saying that an opinion is unpopular — unpopular to who? That’s the thing. Us putting that song out and it doing what it’s done just shows me there’s a lot of people out there that feel the same way I feel. It’s a subject matter that over the years has been sort of taught when you’re in the entertainment industry, you stay away from those things. Which I did for a while for no other reason than I was younger and I wasn’t this tapped into politics.
After CMT banned the video, every conservative politician and pundit in the world rushed in to say, “This is my song — I’m with this guy.” What was that like?
I appreciated that they understood where I was coming from on the song. I think it resonated with middle America, working-class America.
But they’re not working-class Americans. They’re rich politicians.
Right, but that’s their base. That’s who supports them.