Highs and lows…
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you should be well aware by now of the controversy that’s been surrounding Jason Aldean’s latest single, “Try That In A Small Town.”
Even though the song was released back in May, it wasn’t until the music video dropped that gave the song the added attention for critics (mostly those who disagree with his politics or those who already dislike his music) to come out full force with damning allegations against the Country superstar.
When the backlash poured in, some criticized Aldean for the message of the song, while others just trashed it for being “poorly-written” or “lame.” Other Country artists such as Cody Johnson, Brantley Gilbert and Luke Bryan all defended Jason during live performances the week of the heightened controversy.
Despite CMT pulling the music video and Country radio stations yanking it from airplay, Try That In A Small Town skyrocketed in streaming and sales numbers. First becoming the no. 1 song on iTunes, all-genre, then the most popular song on Tiktok, it then went on to obtain the second-highest pure sales week of 2023 thus far and earned Aldean his first ever no. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart.
After just taking the No. 1 spot from Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night,” the Hot 100 chart, which combines all-genre U.S. streaming, radio airplay and sales data, looked pretty similar this week, except for one minor difference…and by minor, I mean pretty damn big. The overwhelmingly talked-about song that just went No. 1 last week was no longer No. 1. Hmm, okay, that happens all the time. So maybe it fell to number two or three? Nope, not there either. Number 4? Try again.
Okay, okay. It’s gotta be in the top ten though, right? (Ha, you’d think). Top 20? Wrong again…
Try That In A Small Town fell from No. 1 all the way to No. 21 in just a week, breaking the record for the biggest drop in Hot 100 history for a #1 single that didn’t debut there. The original record was held by The Weekend with his 2019 song, “Heartless,” which dropped to No. 17.
With the massive amount of attention the song acquired, I’m not surprised it went No. 1 (cause, you know..all publicity is good publicity, amirite?) but I’m also not surprised it fell that fast either. I mean, the song has been out of the headlines over the fast few days, as well as Country stations no longer keeping it in rotation.
Still, whether you think the song is good or bad, I never understood the “racist” allegations to begin with.
Watch the music video, below. (Or don’t, I really don’t care).
12 Comments
It was NOT allegations, but innuendo by visual reference to the location where a racist event happened, etc. When one reads or hear lyrics, one usually uses their own life background in understanding the song, but when you add visual content it may not be how you invisioned the song. Like reading a book and then seeing a movie made from the book and being disappointed because it wasn’t the way you saw it.
The Fact that this song made it to #1 in record time, is a perfect example of how WE ALL STICK TOGETHER.
PERIOD.
Awful song breaks record for fastest drop in history. Well deserved.
I believe it was his choice of the lite up building in the background. I don’t believe it was unintentional.
Good thing it doesn’t matter what you believe, huh? Your opinion on the matter is irrelevant, especially since it’s wrong.
I think it’s a great song, and perfectly timed for the way we are all living ,
Of course you “didn’t understand the racist allegations”, a town square in the south evokes warm and fuzzy memories for white people. Of a simpler time, where people knew their place and if they didn’t they’d find themselves strung up on that big pretty oak tree while the good white people had a picnic under the swinging dead black body, taking photos like it was a 12 point buck. God you people are exhausting with your woeful ignorance.
You need a hobby. You should take up free diving the Titanic.
“not understanding” how it was racist is an issue of willful ignorance. You could spend five minutes on Google and find someone spelling it out simply enough for even a Jason Aldean fan to put 2 and 2 together.
And just like I told the other commenter: it’s good thing your opinion is irrelevant, because it’s wrong. You see racism wherever you want to see racism to fit your narrow minded world view.
What’s really sad is how you, and all your extremist libtard friends see looting & rioting and instantly think that means black people. So who’s the real racist in this equation? It sure isn’t me or Jason Aldean. I know, I know, you don’t understand what I mean. So I’ll spell it out for you: YOU AND THOSE LIKE YOU ARE THE RACISTS.
Saying you never understood the “racist allegations” is sad. The song uses the line “good ol’ boys”, which explicitly denotes prejudice, and its video included references to lynching and crime in minority communities. It is an attack on BLM by a privileged white boy, and your article is another expression of white privilege.
Sometimes context is everything—for example, the presence of a lynching-famous courthouse hits different in a Hannah Montana video than it does in a lunkheaded, “get off my lily-white lawn with your city-fied BLM violence” video. Meanwhile, if you can’t hear the blatantly racist historical context of the line “see how far ya make it down the road,” you should go watch “Mississippi Burning” or “A Time To Kill” or just read a history book.