Jason Aldean has climbed to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week with his controversial single “Try That in a Small Town.”
As of Monday, the song hit No. 1, following its chart debut at No. 2 the week prior, according to Billboard.
The #Hot100 top 10 (chart dated Aug. 5, 2023)
— billboard charts (@billboardcharts) July 31, 2023
“Try That in a Small Town” made headlines after its music video was released last month, which was met with mixed reactions, with some saying it was glorifying lynching, racial tension and violence.
Imagery and messages throughout the song and video include protests and riots in large cities.
The music video also shows news footage from recent years, showing protests in big cities, American flags being burned, and attacks on police officers.
Following the criticism, CMT pulled the music video from its rotation, but Aldean defended it.
The singer posted a message on his Instagram story and to his Twitter account, writing in part:
“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.”
However, the video appeared to be edited last tweek to remove some imagery from Black Lives Matter protests.
The Washington Post was the first to report the changes made to the music video July 25 on YouTube, noting that the video is now six seconds shorter than when it was originally uploaded on July 14.
