But all their efforts were in vain, as the song struck a chord with millions of Americans. Despite repeated attempts to tie racist undertones into both the music video and lyrics, it persisted.
Now, less than a year after this controversy, Aldean is gearing up to grace the stage at the 2024 CMT Music Awards, where he'll be debuting his latest track, “Let Your Boys Be Country.”
This just goes to show, y'all can't cancel Aldean.
From OK! Magazine:
As OK! previously reported, although many believed "Try That in a Small Town" was offensive and bigoted, Aldean took to Instagram in July 2023 to clear up his message.
"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 protesters," he began the note.
"These references are not only meritless, but dangerous," he 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 to respect others to have their own interpretation of a song with music — this one goes too far."
"'Try That In A Small Town,' for me, refers to the feeling of a community that I had growing up, where we took care of our neighbors, regardless of the differences of background or belief," he claimed. "Because they were our neighbors, and that was 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 insisted.
