Jason Aldean has denied that his song Try That in a Small Town is pro-lynching.
The country star took to Twitter on Tuesday to defend his recent single after its music video was pulled from the CMT channel over accusations of promoting violence.
"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," Jason tweeted of the controversy.
"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."
In the music video, which was released on 14 July, Jason performs in front of a courthouse that was once the site of a famous lynching as news footage is projected onto the building.
In the song, Jason dares rulebreakers to "see how far ya make it down the road" outside a city, with lyrics including, "You cross that line, it won't take long/ For you to find out, I recommend you don't" and "Got a gun that my granddad gave me/ They say one day they're gonna round up".
The country music singer explained in his tweet that the song was about "the feeling of a community that I had growing up, where we took care of our neighbours, regardless of differences of background or belief".
Fellow musician Sheryl Crow later took to Twitter to blast Jason for the song by writing, "@Jason_Aldean I'm from a small town. Even people in small towns are sick of violence. There's nothing small-town or American about promoting violence... This is not American or small town-like. It's just lame (sic)."
Jason has not responded to her comment.
