News footage of Black Lives Matter has been edited
Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town” video is now six seconds shorter after images of Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests were edited from the controversial clip. The Washington Post first reported that news clips from Fox 5 Atlanta depicting 2020 violent confrontations from BLM were used twice during the three minute video, but now no longer appear.
In the video, Aldean and his band perform in front of the Maury County Courthouse in Tennessee, where Henry Choate, a black man, was lynched in 1927. The courthouse is draped with an American flag over the entrance. The performance is interspersed with real news footage of violence and looting from around the world, including the BLM footage projected at least once onto the exterior of the courthouse.
Aldean’s label, BBR Music Group, confirms the removal of the footage saying, “the video footage was edited due to third party copyright clearance issues,” but did not elaborate further. It’s unclear if Fox 5 Atlanta requested the edits as they have not commented on the matter.
The song was written by Kelley Lovelace, Neil Thrasher, Tully Kennedy and Kurt Michael Allison with a conventional take on protecting yourself, property and neighbors. In the song, Aldean sings, “Got a gun that my granddad gave me / They say one day they’re gonna round up / Well, that shit might fly in the city, good luck.”
While the song has been out since May, it instantly attracted negative media attention for the video released nearly two weeks ago. Many have accused the outspoken country star of being racist and promoting gun violence with the song’s message and video’s imagery. Aldean defended the clip, stating the song represents conservative American values.
“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. 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,” Aldean shared on social media last week.
Over the weekend, Aldean addressed the controversy during a concert in Cincinnati, OH where he thanked fans for understanding his position.
“It’s been a long-ass week. It’s been a long week. And I’ve seen a lot of stuff. I’ve seen a lot of stuff suggesting that I’m this, suggesting that I’m that,” to which the crowd began booing.
“Hey, here’s the thing. Here’s the thing. Here’s one thing I feel — I feel like everyone’s entitled to their opinion. You can think something all you want to, that doesn’t mean it’s true, right? So, what I am is a proud American. I’m proud to be from here. I love our country. I wanna see it restored to what it once was before all this bullshit started happening to us. I love my country, I love my family, and I will do anything to protect that. I can tell you that right now,” he says as the crowd began cheering, “USA!” over and over.
He continues, “This day and age, cancel culture is a thing, that’s something that if people don’t like what you say, they try to make sure that they can cancel you, which means try and ruin your life, ruin everything. One thing I saw this week was a bunch of country music fans that can see through a lot of the bullshit, all right? I saw country music fans rally like I’ve never seen before, and it was pretty badass to watch, I gotta say. So thank you guys so much.”
Many artists like Jason Isbell and Sheryl Crow criticized Aldean for the song and video, while others such as Brantley Gilbert, Ted Nugent, Cody Johnson, Lee Greenwood and Jake Owen have supported Aldean.
Despite CMT pulling it from its rotation, the song and video have skyrocketed in popularity with the video receiving more than 19 million views on YouTube. The song itself scored a triple-digit sales increase, jumping from less than one million to more than 11.7 million streams within a week, landing at No. 2 on the US digital music charts, making it the fourth best-selling song of 2023.
