Jason Aldean Isn't "Pro-Lynching." And His Critics Know It.

Pro-gun lyrics are apparently no longer permissible in American popular music. That, at least, is the implication behind the attempt to cancel Jason Aldean, the country music star, for his new music video: “Try That in a Small Town.” 

Aldean’s video features news footage of looters and rioters, which looks similar to the violent scenes that erupted during the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, though it is not explicit. Later, images appear idealizing life in small, conservative towns: family, community, gun ownership. After critics accused the video of being “pro-gun violence” and “pro-lynching”—including fellow country star Sheryl Crow, who accused Aldean of “promoting violence”—the Country Music Television channel pulled the video last week after just days of airtime.

As a fan of rap music and a rapper myself, I can’t help but notice the hypocrisy behind this outrage. While it is true that Aldean’s lyrics are pro-gun and contain a brand of machismo that might be off-putting to some, they are mild compared to the lyrics routinely heard in mainstream rap songs.

Here’s a sample of Aldean’s lyrics: “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 / Try that in a small town.”

Compare that to lyrics by Grammy award-winning rapper 21 Savage: “I pull up with the stick [gun] and let this bitch spark. Swear I would’ve shot that cracker if I was Rosa Parks.” Or consider these lyrics by Grammy Award winner Lil Baby, perhaps the most popular rapper alive right now: “My homie got the stick, I got the glizzy / We don’t fear them / These niggas don’t wanna play with us / I swear that we gon’ kill them.”

Progressives have tolerated these kinds of lyrics in mainstream rap for decades. Indeed, it has been the left that has historically defended rap crews like N.W.A and 2 Live Crew when they came under accusations of promoting violence and obscenity. What disturbs progressives is not the fact that Aldean’s song contains macho, pro-gun lyrics—which are ubiquitous in rap. What disturbs them is the fact that Aldean is a straight, white, conservative male, and therefore must play by a different set of rules than black, left-leaning artists.

Media coverage of the music video has especially focused on its alleged connection to lynching. Tennessee state representative Justin Jones called it a “vile racist song” and a “lynching anthem.”

But the idea that Aldean’s song is “pro-lynching” is a baseless smear. The basis for this accusation is not any of the lyrics in the song itself, but the fact that the video was filmed near the Maury County Courthouse in the public square of Columbia, Tennessee—the site of a lynching of a man named Henry Choate in 1926. Choate, an 18-year-old black man, was accused of raping 16-year-old Sarah Harlan, who was white. After he was arrested, a mob sprung him from prison and hanged him out of the courthouse window. 

According to the production company, the location was not chosen by Aldean. But even if it were, that would hardly imply that the singer chose the location because he knew about—much less wanted to evoke the memory of—a lynching that occurred nearly one hundred years ago. Film production companies largely choose locations based on two considerations: cost and aesthetics. They don’t do historical research on those locations, nor should we expect them to. There were several thousand recorded lynchings all over the South in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Filmmakers cannot be expected to avoid all the scenes of these atrocities. Indeed, the very same Maury Courthouse location has been used in movies such as Hannah Montana: The Movie. Would anyone suggest that Miley Cyrus is “pro-lynching”?

In response to the allegations about the video, Aldean tweeted: “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.” He went on to write that “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 differences of background or belief. Because they were our neighbors, and that was above any differences.”

Aldean is right. What’s happening here is not based on principle, but on politics. Those who hate Aldean’s politics are using the video as an excuse to ruin his reputation and hurt his career.

Originally from Georgia, Aldean moved to Nashville at the age of 21 to pursue a music career. He didn’t discuss politics throughout most of his career, though he did make headlines in 2017 after a gunman opened fire on the crowd at the Route 91 Harvest music festival in Las Vegas while Aldean was performing, killing 58 people. Around 2020 and 2021, he became more openly political, expressing his support and admiration for Donald Trump. His wife, Brittany Aldean, is also an outspoken conservative. After she made comments critical of “gender-affirming care” for children in 2022, Aldean was dropped by his PR firm. 

But his music has remained hugely popular. As of last week, the track was #1 on the iTunes charts. And the music video has garnered 15 million views in just nine days. If there is a silver lining to this fiasco, it is that the censors have not gotten their way. Fans have responded to CMT’s cowardice by listening to Aldean. 

A culture that values free speech and artistic expression should defend the ability of artists to express themselves lyrically no matter their identity or politics—even and especially when their lyrics strike some segment of the populace as obscene. 

It is in the nature of art that what is obscene to one consumer is beautiful to another. The great thing about our society is that if you don’t like it, you don’t have to listen.