Jason Aldean Lashes Out at 'Small Town' Critics During Concert

Jason Aldean took aim at his critics during a concert in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The country music singer has been at the center of controversy in recent weeks for his hit song "Try That in a Small Town." There has been an online debate about whether the song is "racist," and some have called the lyrics "scary."

Country Music Television (CMT) even went as far as pulling the music video from the network, a spokesperson for CMT confirmed to Newsweek. Despite backlash, however, the tune managed to hit number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart as well as U.S. iTunes.

In a video posted to Twitter by user @dumboldad, Aldean could be heard addressing the audience during his show.

"It's been a crazy a** month, I gotta be honest with you," the 46-year-old began his lengthy speech. "Here's what I'll say, though, man. And to everybody that's listening tonight, here's what I'll say. Whatever you guys are reading in the news, just make sure you do your homework, alright? Because listen, there's no doubt that the media tries to twist a lot of things to look this way or that way. Meanwhile, we're the bad guys for, you know, wanting like, prayer in school, you know? We're the bad guys for that. So it makes no sense to me, just like a lot of you guys it probably doesn't make any sense to you either."

Aldean continued: "We put out a song that was supposed to start a conversation about people looking at what's going on in our country and hopefully realizing that what's going on in our country is a complete s*** show. Right?"

Aldean added that he's a "Georgia boy" who doesn't "get pushed around very easily."

"So people can say whatever they want to say about me, I truly don't care," he noted. "I feel like to me my message was pretty clear. And by the looks of what's going on tonight and what happened with the song and the video once it came out, I feel like a lot of people are on my side, what do you say?" Again, his fans erupted into loud cheers.

The father of four, who shares two children with wife Brittany Aldean and two daughters with ex-wife Jessica Ussery, then touched upon cancel culture.

"We live in a world now where if somebody doesn't agree with you, they will try to beat you down until you just submit to whatever it is they think, right? But I ain't the one for that s***, alright? I'm not," Aldean said. "So I do wanna say thank you guys to everybody. When this song and video came out, thank you for kind of seeing through what was going on, seeing what the message we were sending really was and thank you guys so much for making this song what it's been so far. This thing has been one hell of a ride, and I don't think it's stopping anytime soon. So here you go, Charlotte!"

The five-time Grammy nominated artist then proceeded to play "Try That in a Small Town."

In the song, Aldean sings: "Sucker punch somebody on a sidewalk, carjack an old lady at a red light, pull a gun on the owner of a liquor store, ya think it's cool, well, act a fool if ya like."

He adds: "Cuss out a cop, spit in his face, stomp on the flag and light it up. Yeah, ya think you're tough, well, try that in a small town, 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."

Previously, Aldean denied his song has racist undertones. "There is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it," he tweeted on July 18.

In an exclusive Newsweek poll, a majority of people agreed with Aldean.

According to the polling by Redfield & Wilton Strategies, 34 percent of those polled agreed or strongly agreed with the statement by Democratic Tennessee State Representative Justin Jones that "Try That in a Small Town" is "a heinous song calling for racist violence." Meanwhile, 50 percent either disagreed or strongly disagreed with that statement.

Do you have a tip on an entertainment story that Newsweek should be covering? Let us know via entertainment@newsweek.com.