Jason Aldean is continuing to defend his controversial track.
The 46-year-old singer took a moment during his show at the Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Friday night to address the controversy over his song Try That in a Small Town. After dropping a music video for the track, he came under fire over the past week when people noticed it contained some seriously dangerous and problematic material. Many have pointed out that the lyrics and accompanying video are pro-lynching, pro-guns, promoting vigilante violence, and overall glorifying fascism.
Related: Jason Isbell & Jake Owens Go At It Over Jason Aldean’s Controversial Track
During the concert, Aldean blamed all of the backlash against his violence-inciting and threatening song to nothing more than “cancel culture.” He told audience members:
“It’s been a long-a** week. It’s been a long week. And I’ve seen a lot of stuff suggesting I’m this, suggesting I’m that. I feel, like, everybody’s entitled to their opinions. You can think something all you want to but doesn’t mean it’s true. What I am is a proud American. I’m proud to be from here. I love our country. I want to see it restored to what it once was before all this bulls**t 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.”
As the crowd began to chant “USA” over and over, Aldean continued:
“You guys know how it is this day and age, cancel culture it’s a thing… This day and age, if people don’t like what you say, they try to make sure they can cancel you, which means try to 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 bulls**t. I saw country music fans rally like I’ve never seen before and it was pretty bada**, I gotta say. Thank you guys so much.”
Before performing the track, the Dirt Road Anthem artist noted that many have asked him whether he’d play the song live due to the backlash – which he obviously ended up doing so:
“I said, ‘You know, people that come to my shows, you guys know what I’m about. You know what I stand for.’ I never shied away from that at all. You have the same values, the same principles that I have, which is we we want to take our kids to a movie and not worry about some a**hole coming in there shooting up the theater, right? So when somebody asked me, ‘Hey man, do you think you’re going to play the song tonight?’ The answer is simple. The people have spoken and you guys spoke very, very loudly this week.”
He says this last part of the speech — yet still had such a blatant pro-gun stance in the song? Even after being on stage in Las Vegas in 2017 amid the deadliest mass shooting in American history? Ugh. Clearly, this guy refuses to listen to the points people slamming this song had and see the error of his ways.
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[Image via MEGA/WENN]