{"id":1977571,"date":"2023-07-19T16:10:02","date_gmt":"2023-07-19T20:10:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jason-aldean-and-country-music-are-standing-in-the-way-of-the-lefts-total-cultural-hegemony\/"},"modified":"2023-07-19T16:17:32","modified_gmt":"2023-07-19T20:17:32","slug":"jason-aldean-and-country-music-are-standing-in-the-way-of-the-lefts-total-cultural-hegemony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jason-aldean-and-country-music-are-standing-in-the-way-of-the-lefts-total-cultural-hegemony\/","title":{"rendered":"Jason Aldean and country music hinder the Left&#8217;s cultural dominance."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fjason-aldean-and-country-music-are-standing-in-the-way-of-the-lefts-total-cultural-hegemony%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1977571&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<h2>Update your playlists\u2064 accordingly: Jason Aldean\u200c is\u2062 canceled.<\/h2>\n<p>Following howls of online outrage, <a \u2064href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/blogs\/in-the-know\/4104318-jason-aldean-try-that-in-a-small-town-video-pulled-cmt\/\" \u2064target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CMT \u200bhas pulled<\/a> Aldean\u2019s\u2062 latest\u200c video from\u2062 rotation. The song, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=b1_RKu-ESCY\"\u2062 target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Try That in a Small\u2063 Town<\/a>,\u201d \u200bwas \u200dreleased in May, but \u2064the \u200cvideo dropped just \u200ddays ago. It features\u200b Aldean\u2063 singing in a\u2064 small-town square at night, \u2062American \u200cflags \u2062in\u200b the background, news footage of riots, looting, and violent crime \u2063projected onto the county\u200b courthouse \u200cbehind \u200bhim.\u200d A\u2062 sample lyric:<\/p>\n<blockquote\u200d class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p><em>\u201cCuss \u2063out\u200b a\u200b cop,\u200d spit\u200c in his\u200d face<br \/>Stomp on the flag and \u2062light it \u200bup<br \/>Yeah,\u2064 ya think\u2064 you\u2019re \u2064tough<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Well, \u200btry that in a\u2063 small town<br \/>See how \u200cfar ya make it\u2062 down the \u200droad.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>To a\u2063 legion of outraged urban critics, Aldean\u2019s \u200bsong\u2064 promotes lynching. That\u2019s a heavy charge, but the mob has \u200dits evidence: \u2063The\u200d video was \u200dfilmed in\u2063 front of\u2063 the\u200d Maury\u200d County courthouse, where a real lynching did take \u2063place \u200bin 1927. Surely, this\u200b is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jeopardy-winner-accused-of-flashing-white-power-sign-he-was-showing-how-many-times-he-won\/\" title=\"Jeopardy Winner Accused Of Flashing White Power Sign. He Was Showing How Many Times He Won.\">racist dog whistle<\/a>! \u200dSurely, the \u200cchoice of location signals Aldean\u2019s longing to return\u2062 to one \u200dof America\u2019s \u2064darker \u200dchapters when summary\u200b justice\u2062 was dispensed in\u2062 the \u2064streets!<\/p>\n<h2>Why Now?<\/h2>\n<p>I\u2019m\u200d not \u200cthe first to point out that Aldean\u2019s new single\u200c treads a well-worn\u200c path. For decades, country music has \u2063pushed\u2064 back\u2062 against the cultural\u2064 and\u200b rhetorical\u2062 excesses \u2062of \u200cthe\u2063 urban left. In an\u2062 America\u2064 where the\u200b \u201ccorrect\u201d\u200c art is produced\u200d in \u200ccities for\u200d other city folk, country music has \u200dsounded a consistent note of defiance. Think\u2063 of Merle \u2062Haggard\u2019s \u200c\u201c<a \u2062href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=68cbjlLFl4U\" target=\"_blank\" \u200drel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Okie from Muskogee<\/a>\u201d \u2062or Hank Williams, \u2063Jr.\u2019s \u201c<a\u200b href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3cQNkIrg-Tk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">A \u200bCountry \u2064Boy\u2063 Can Survive<\/a>.\u201d Think of \u200bWillie \u200dNelson joining\u2064 Toby Keith\u2063 in\u2062 \u201c<a \u2063href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=o1JOFhfoAD4\"\u200d target=\"_blank\" \u200brel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Beer for \u200cMy Horses<\/a>.\u201d Each \u2062of \u200cthese classic \u200bsongs \u200d\u2013 and \u200dhundreds more\u2063 \u2013 push back against urban \u2063disorder\u2063 and\u200c violence. (Left-leaning music critics will \u200dargue\u2063 that Merle\u2062 and Willie \u2064never\u200c really \u2064meant what\u2064 they sang. Willie Nelson\u200d is, after all, now a darling of\u200b the \u200cleft, \u2062and \u200dhis \u200cindiscretions \u2062can be excused.)<\/p>\n<p>If Aldean is \u2064walking such a familiar road,\u200d why\u2062 the upset now?\u2062 The\u2062 first \u200canswer \u2062is that we\u2063 live in a much-more polarized culture than \u2064we did when\u200c Merle, \u2064Hank \u200dJr., \u2063and Willie topped the\u200c country charts. To\u2064 the\u2063 contemporary\u2062 urban liberal imagination, shaped as it \u200dis by\u2064 the hysterics of MSNBC and the \u200bonly slightly-more sober pronouncements of The New York\u2063 Times, \u2063<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jason-aldean-and-country-music-are-standing-in-the-way-of-the-lefts-total-cultural-hegemony\/\" title=\"Jason Aldean and country music hinder the Left's cultural dominance.\">angry white\u2064 rural\u200b men<\/a> now\u2064 constitute the Great Existential\u200b Threat. Aldean\u2019s\u200c song\u200b is \u2064part \u200dof \u200cthe soundtrack \u2063that\u2063 sustains and\u200b inspires that threat. (\u201cAlbert, \u2062I bet those January 6 \u200binsurrectionists \u200cwere\u2063 listening \u2063to Jason Aldean as\u2063 they\u2062 marched \u2064into the \u2064capital!\u201d)\u2062 Therefore, the \u200dsong \u200dmust\u2063 be canceled, its \u200blisteners re-educated, its\u200c singer\u200c exiled.<\/p>\n<p>The second answer\u2064 is less about\u200c paranoia and \u200cmore about power. In\u2063 Variety <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2023\/music\/opinion\/jason-aldean-try-that-in-a-small-town-worst-country-song-video-column-1235673177\/\">this \u200bweek<\/a>, Chris Willman declares \u201cTry That\u200d in a Small\u200b Town\u201d\u2064 to be\u200b \u201cthe \u2062most cynical\u200d song ever written\u201d and \u201cthe most contemptible \u200ccountry\u2064 song\u200c of the decade.\u201d (I remember,\u200c wistfully, when \u2064editors \u2063at the flagship journal of American entertainment still tried to\u2062 rein in hyperbole.)\u2063 Willman\u2019s\u200b foaming denunciation seems wildly over-the-top <em>until you\u200d remember \u2063that country \u200cmusic \u2062is one \u2064of\u200c the very few types of popular \u2062culture \u2064that \u200cthe\u2062 left does not yet control. \u2064<\/em>Willman, CMT, and the other supreme\u2063 arbiters of acceptability hate Aldean\u2019s fan base. \u200cThey hate that Aldean\u2019s support\u200d for Donald Trump hasn\u2019t\u200c cost him dearly in terms of streams,\u2062 sales, \u2064and tour revenue.<\/p>\n<p>In early 2021, country \u2062singer\u2063 Morgan\u2063 Wallen\u200c was caught using the\u2062 \u201cn-word\u201d in a drunken conversation \u2062captured on\u200c video. In a post-George\u200d Floyd\u2063 world,\u2064 this should have\u200d been a career killer. Wallen rightly\u200b apologized, but his\u2062 critics \u2063wanted\u2063 more: They wanted his \u200dmusic off\u200b the \u2064airwaves. Country radio, controlled as it\u200b is by urban\u200d corporations, complied. Morgan Wallen\u2019s \u2064fans, however, \u2062had\u2064 other ideas.\u2064 His music\u2064 set \u200bstreaming records, and \u200bhis \u2063<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/south-african-cricketer-quinton-de-kock-who-refused-to-kneel-retires-from-the-sport\/\" title=\"South African Cricketer Quinton de Kock, Who Refused to Kneel, Retires from the Sport\">recent tour<\/a> became \u2063the highest-grossing in recent country\u200d music history. The left \u2064was\u2063 outraged \u2062\u2013 they had \u2063pronounced an artist unclean, and the fans had\u200c said, \u200c\u201cWe don\u2019t\u200b care.\u201d To \u2063the enlightened \u2063minds, Wallen\u2019s enduring success\u200c (he is\u200b still \u200bat \u2064the top of the\u2062 charts)\u200d is evidence that\u200c there is \u2064something deeply \u2062deplorable \u200dabout country music and its \u2062fans.<\/p>\n<p>Having\u2062 failed to \u200bcancel\u2064 Wallen \u2013 \u200band now, likely\u2062 to fail\u200b to cancel Aldean\u2063 \u2013\u2062 the left\u2019s response is to\u2064 play\u200d the \u200clong game. That \u2062longer game \u200cinvolves \u200didentifying,\u200b promoting, and celebrating singers and songwriters whose\u2064 politics \u2063match the left\u2019s party line. If\u2064 canceling\u2064 conservatives isn\u2019t \u2063working, what about\u200b more effectively subverting the\u200b genre from \u200dwithin?<\/p>\n<p>Subversion\u2062 is \u2063the\u2063 clear \u200dintent \u2064of a <a \u2063href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2023\/07\/24\/country-musics-culture-wars-and-the-remaking-of-nashville\"\u2062 target=\"_blank\" \u200crel=\"noreferrer noopener\">long article<\/a> \u200cin this \u200cweek\u2019s New Yorker: \u201cCountry Music\u2019s\u2062 Culture Wars\u200d and the Remaking of Nashville.\u201d The Emily\u2064 Nussbaum\u2062 piece\u200c opens with an account \u200bof a Nashville benefit concert for\u200b \u201ctrans rights,\u201d\u200d featuring a who\u2019s-who \u2064of left-leaning artists.\u2064 Backstage, \u200bJason Isbell and Amanda Shires \u2062\u2014 \u200dthe power-couple darlings of\u200c the country left, as critically acclaimed as they are\u200c politically correct \u2014 \u2062debate how \u2063best to fight\u200c \u201canti-trans\u201d legislation \u200bin Tennessee. Jason\u2063 suggests focusing \u2062on local elections, \u2064his\u2063 wife muses about \u2064anarchy. It\u2019s a\u2062 revealing moment:\u2062 the \u2064left fights the culture \u200bwar with complementary\u200b tactics \u200b\u2014 unrest in \u2064the\u2064 streets and \u200bconsolidation of \u2064power at\u2062 the ballot\u2064 box.\u2064 The New\u200c Yorker \u2064reader smiles. Maybe country music is redeemable,\u200c after \u200call?<\/p>\n<p>Nussbaum saves \u200cher greatest\u200c praise for Adeem the Artist, a \u201cnon-binary\u201d country performer who uses \u200cthey\/them pronouns. \u200dAdeem\u2019s \u200cfirst \u200drecord, \u2063<em>Cast\u200c Iron Pansexual<\/em>, was released \u2064in \u200b2021 to wide acclaim; the follow-up, <em>White \u200bTrash Revelry<\/em>, earned \u200cAdeem a \u2064spot opening for \u200cIsbell, a \u2062gig \u2062at\u2063 the Opry,\u2064 and \u2064some \u200dairplay on alternative country stations.\u2062 A talented songwriter, Adeem is the\u200d poster non-binary person\u2063 for\u2062 those eager\u2063 to\u200b anoint an anti-Aldean figure. In the song\u2064 \u201c<a \u200bhref=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9FEFSL_dwwg\" \u200btarget=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\u2062 noopener\">Heritage of \u200bArrogance<\/a>,\u201d\u200d Adeem offers the \u2062ideal\u2064 anthem \u2062for\u200c those who\u2063 want a country-inflected encapsulation\u200d of grievance.\u200b Sample lyrics:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<blockquote \u2062class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p><em>Mom and dad tried\u2064 to \u2063teach me wrong from right<br \/>But their compasses \u200dwere bad\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>I\u2019ve been listening<br \/>Trying \u200cto keep myself from dismissing<br \/>Perspectives \u200dthat \u200cI struggle to\u2064 relate with<br \/>And I\u2019ve\u200c been \u200blearning our\u200b true\u200d history and I\u200d hate\u2062 it<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Two sides of\u2062 a coin<br \/>Jesus \u2064Christ \u2062and white supremacy<br \/>Looking back<br \/>It don\u2019t make any sense \u2062to \u200dme<\/em><em><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>It\u2019s a four-minute\u200d screed but\u2064 a \u2062catchy\u200c one. Imagine, the New \u200cYorker asks, \u200dhow good and great the world\u200b would \u2063be if we could\u200b replace Jason Aldean with \u2062Jason\u200c Isbell and\u200c Morgan\u2064 Wallen with\u2064 Adeem the Artist? If country music is the\u200d soundtrack of white \u200dsupremacy, \u200bwhat if we could seize the studios and \u200dthe \u200cvenues\u2063 and the \u2062streaming\u200b sites and \u2063the radios? What\u200d if \u2062we\u2062 could \u200bconquer the\u2063 last\u2063 bastion\u2062 of conservative culture? My friends, we are so \u2063close!<\/p>\n<h2>Total Cultural Hegemony<\/h2>\n<p>It\u200c is easy\u200c to imagine \u2064that\u2062 decades ago, social \u200dconservatives\u2062 might have\u200b protested Adeem the\u2063 Artist. A transgender \u200dsinger\u200d declaring \u200cthat Jesus and white supremacy are\u2062 two\u2063 sides \u200dof\u2064 the same coin? That \u2064American\u200d history\u200c is a \u201cheritage of arrogance?\u201d It\u2019s offensive, it\u2019s outrageous, and no matter how cleverly\u2063 sung, it\u2019s a lie. \u2062Yet conservatives \u200dare not picketing \u200bAdeem\u2019s shows or demanding \u200c\u201ctheir\u201d songs\u200c be pulled \u2063off the\u200b air. \u200cIt \u2062is \u200cthe \u200bleft, \u200dnot \u2062the right, that deploys\u2063 cancel \u200bculture against \u200dart that it regards\u2062 as dangerous. \u2064It\u200d is the right, not the left,\u200c that\u200d understands pluralism.<\/p>\n<p>In \u200dAmerica, people are free to go where they\u200d feel \u2063welcome. If you don\u2019t\u200b like\u200c the politics of your\u2064 neighbors, \u200cyou\u2062 get\u200c to move\u200c somewhere\u2064 more\u2062 congenial. It is \u2062clear which side \u2064is winning \u200bthat \u2063argument,\u2064 as Americans pour \u200dout of \u201cblue\u201d\u200d states like California\u200b and\u2064 New \u200bYork and flock to \u201cred\u201d Florida, Texas, and \u200bTennessee. The small-town\u200d values \u2063that Jason Aldean celebrates\u2062 in his\u200b video are the values \u2064that millions\u200c of\u2063 exhausted, frightened, \u200bover-taxed city dwellers would like \u200da \u200bchance \u200cto \u2063embrace. \u2062Every year, hundreds\u2062 of thousands \u200dof \u200cthem move out of San \u2064Francisco, Brooklyn, and Minneapolis\u200b to \u2064seek \u2062a place\u2064 safe \u200dand sane for their families,\u2063 hoping perhaps to find a small town where \u200cthugs \u200bare \u200bnot coddled.<\/p>\n<p>The left\u2019s\u200d answer\u2063 to\u200c this demographic rebuke is to try \u200cto erase \u200dthe culture\u200d and heritage of those \u2062red states.\u2062 If\u200d they\u200b can \u2063convince\u200d fed-up urbanites that\u200c small towns \u2063are not \u2062a\u2062 refuge but\u2062 instead hotbeds\u200d of\u2064 hate, they\u200c figure \u200cthey\u2062 can \u2064stem \u200dthe outflowing tide. \u200cIf\u2062 they can\u2019t stop the \u200cexodus, they can change the \u200dfacts on the ground \u2064in those small towns, making them\u2063 more and more \u2064like the urban\u200c centers.\u2062 If they can\u2064 cancel\u2063 the Aldeans, \u200dand replace them \u200bwith the Adeems,\u200b they can have the total cultural hegemony \u2064that\u200b has\u200b eluded them \u2064for so \u200blong.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe you \u200dlike Jason Aldean; maybe you don\u2019t. Maybe \u201cTry That in a Small Town\u201d\u2063 strikes you as a banger, or \u2064maybe \u200cit \u200bleaves you\u2063 cold.\u200b It doesn\u2019t \u200bmatter. They\u2019re coming for him because they\u2019re coming \u200dfor you, and,\u2062 as the old\u2062 saying \u2063goes, he\u2019s in the\u2062 way.<\/p>\n<p>Go \u200cstream the song.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jason Aldean&#8217;s latest video, &#8220;Try That in a Small Town,&#8221; has been pulled from rotation by CMT due to online backlash. Released in May, the video shows Aldean singing in a small-town square at night with American flags in the background. Update your playlists accordingly as Aldean is now canceled.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1885,"featured_media":1977572,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1977571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1977571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1885"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1977571"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1977571\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1977572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1977571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1977571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1977571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}