Jason Aldean addresses criticism of controversial country music video: 'This one goes too far'

foxnews.com:

Jason Aldean denies that his song, "Try That in a Small Town," has racial undertones in the wake of online backlash after his music video was released last week.

Aldean, 46, rejected the notion that the tune, which hit airwaves in May and only recently received visuals, referenced "race or points to it." In the music video, Aldean touts how small towns wouldn't put up with the kind of riots and lawlessness many cities across the country faced during the summer of 2020. "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." Brittany Aldean shared a selfie with her husband while on the beach and wrote, "Never apologize for speaking the truth." The second single from his as-yet untitled 11th studio album also faced criticism for its accompanying music video, which was filmed at a controversial location and featured footage from Black Lives Matter protests in 2020. "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 wrote in posts shared on Instagram and Twitter.

Some of the lyrics in the song included in his forthcoming album include, "Yeah, ya think you're tough? Well, try that in a small town, see how far ya make it down the road.