Jason Aldean's new single, "Try That In a Small Town," has gained a lot of attention in recent days, and while the single has drawn widespread criticism, this did not stop it from topping the iTunes chart Tuesday evening, beating out other streaming giants like Luke Combs' cover of "Fast Car" and "Last Night" by Morgan Wallen, according to Whiskey Riff.
The official music video for the single was also top of the iTunes music video chart Tuesday evening, beating out videos from Taylor Swift as well as Chris Stapleton's performance of the Star Spangled Banner from the Super Bowl this year.
The 46-year-old artist dismissed any suggestion that the song, which debuted on radio in May, contained references to race "or points to it" following the release of the video last week.
In the music video, Aldean highlights how small towns wouldn't tolerate the riots experienced by numerous cities across the country during the summer of 2020.
The video shows a mix of scenes featuring protesters, some of whom are in confrontation with the police. The video was filmed at the Maury County courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, which is where a Black man named Henry Choate was lynched back in 1927.
"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," Aldean shared with his nearly 8 million fans across social media. "These references are not only meritless, but dangerous."
Aldean added: "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."
Aldean's wife, Brittany, also shared her thoughts on the controversy through her Instagram stories. She criticized the media for distorting the story to suit their "repulsive narrative" and urged them to instead shift their attention towards more pressing matters like child trafficking.