Country music icon Jason Aldean’s latest track, “Try That in a Small Town,” along with its music video, took the iTunes charts by storm, ascending to the top in less than 24 hours. This rapid popularity surge occurred shortly after reports emerged that the video had been pulled from the CMT channel.
Louder with Crowder confirmed the track’s iTunes triumph, surpassing popular K-pop sensation, BTS, and fellow country musician, Luke Combs. The accompanying visuals didn’t lag either, as they climbed to the pinnacle of the music video chart, even outdoing prolific artist and vocal left-wing activist Taylor Swift.
This remarkable rise followed the video’s removal from CMT on July 17, 2023. The video, featuring clips of Antifa and Black Lives Matter demonstrations, controversial news coverage of looting, violent protests, and antagonistic police encounters, was launched on a Friday and played through Sunday on CMT. It was abruptly removed by Monday. CMT refrained from commenting on the reasons behind this decision.
Despite the silence from CMT, Aldean’s track didn’t miss a beat. As reported by Billboard, by 11 p.m. on Tuesday, the track secured the number one spot on the charts. A further testament to its success was its YouTube performance. With approximately 346,000 views at the time of Billboard’s report, the view count skyrocketed to over 1.3 million within the subsequent 14 hours. This significant jump ensured its spot on YouTube’s trending music page.
However, it wasn’t all smooth sailing for Aldean. “I’ve been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song,” Aldean admitted, decrying the claims as “meritless, but dangerous.” He defended his work, stating that neither the song’s lyrics nor the video’s clips referenced race, and all the footage was sourced from real news. “Try That In A Small Town,” as Aldean elaborated, embodies the sense of community he experienced growing up.
