Jason Aldean's divisive song "Try That in a Small Town" has had the parody treatment.
The song has been described as having "very scary lyrics" and was filmed on the steps of a Tennessee courthouse where a mob lynched a Black man in 1927.
Now country artist Adeem Maria, also known as Adeem the Artist, has mimicked Aldean's style and reworked "Try That in a Small Town," going viral on Twitter with 370,000 views.
Aldean's song praises small-town life compared to big cities and includes lyrics such as, if somebody "cross[es] that line," to "cuss out a cop, spit in his face" or "stomp on the flag and light it up," to "try that in a small town."
Some of the other lyrics in Aldean's song include: "See how far ya make it down the road/Around here, we take care of our own/You cross that line, it won't take long/ For you to find out, I recommend you don't/Try that in a small town."
Country Music Television (CMT) pulled its video after Aldean—who grew up in Macon, Georgia, and Homestead, Florida, with populations of 157,346 and 80,737, respectively— was accused of racism and trying to incite violence, which he denied on social media.
In a TikTok post Adeem Maria explained: "Now, I don't agree with Jason Aldean's politics at all, but the record company said he's trending really well right now and we could get some higher impressions and retweets and stuff.
"And I thought, well, impressions is what I care about most. So let's do this, you know what I mean? So please share it away. This is Jason Aldean's new hit, it's called 'Sundown Town.'"
The tweet is captioned: "Alright I caved to my record label and did a cover of the new@jason_aldean song. Please share it around & enjoy! I love COUNTRY MUSIC! & how inclusive it is!!"
The lyrics of the parody song start with: "We got no protests or civil unrest/Never took no goddamn COVID test and we can all read but we don't do it/Driving trucks valued higher than a new Corvette/Yeah, we all wear boots and we love to shoot and we move for the cops to stop people like you."
Other lyrics include: "Now its true that I am ignorant on most of this, a couple folks for some reason called me a bigot" and "Better never, ever let the sun go down… or the guns come out."
Adeem spoke to Newsweek about their decision to make the parody.
"As far as I can tell, the only culture war that exists in country music is between people who believe in a just, equitable world with a little bit of space for all of us to feel safe and welcome and those of us who are so afraid of anything remotely different, they're willing to sing about hate crimes," they said.
Newsweek contacted Aldean's representatives by email for his reaction to the parody.
Aldean responded to criticism of "Try That in a Small Town" on social media this week.
He 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 [Black Lives Matter] 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."
Aldean also came under fire for his lyrics about guns because he was performing at the 2017 Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas when a mass shooting occurred that killed nearly 60 people and left more than 400 injured.
Update 7/21/23, 9:57 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from Adeem.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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