Jason Aldean performs at CMT Music Awards after ‘Try That in a Small Town’ controversy

Jason Aldean performed at the 2024 CMT Music Awards on April 7, less than a year after controversy and backlash ensued over his song "Try That In a Small Town."

The country singer played "Let Your Boys Be Country," a song from his 2023 album "Highway Desperado" that was also nominated for this year's best video of the year.

On April 3, CMT announced that Aldean and Dasha would be the latest artists to join the 2024 CMT Music Awards stage ahead of the ceremony. The news was met with mixed reactions as Aldean's music video for "Try That In a Small Town" resulted in heavy criticism last summer. The video was dropped by CMT after they initially aired it.

Read on for a summary on why Aldean's "Try That In a Small Town" was so controversial, as well as Aldean's response to the controversy and what happened in the aftermath.

Why is Jason Aldean's 'Try That In a Small Town' controversial?

In July 2023, Aldean sparked criticism after releasing the music video for his single "Try That In a Small Town."

Many interpreted both the music video and song, which was released two months prior to the video, as promoting violence. The lyrics refer to the use of guns (“Got a gun that my grandad gave me / They say one day they’re going to round up”) and how people in a small town "take care of your own" (“Try that in a small town / See how far you make it down the road / Around here we take care of our own”).

The video features footage of protests and robberies projected onto a courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, where 18-year-old Black man Henry Choate was lynched in 1927.

Karlos K. Hill, a professor of African and African American Studies at the University of Oklahoma, told Rolling Stone that the song was a narrative of “white nationalism."

What was Aldean's immediate response to the controversy?

On July 18, Aldean denied on X that he released a song that was “pro-lynching.”

“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 BLM protests,” he penned.

“These references are not only meritless, but dangerous. There is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it- and there isn’t a single video clip that isn’t real news footage -and while I can try and respect others to have their own interpretation of a song with music- this one goes too far.”

He went on to explain that to him, the song represented "the feeling of community" that he had in his childhood, where "neighbors, regardless of differences of background or belief," were taken care of "above any differences."

"My political views have never been something I’ve hidden from, and I know that a lot of us in this Country don’t agree on how we get back to a sense of normalcy where we go at least a day without a headline that keeps us up at night. But the desire for it to- that’s what this song is about."

Aldean did not write “Try That In a Small Town.” It was written by Kelly Lovelace, Neil Thrasher, Tully Kennedy and Kurt Michael Allison.

What happened as a result of the controversy?

Following the backlash over "Try That In a Small Town," CMT dropped the video, but the song continued to garner immense interest.

On July 25, the track debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 before moving into the top spot one week later. The song currently has been listened to more than 59 million times on Spotify, and the video has more than 54 million views on YouTube.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com