Joe Rogan has hit back at people criticising Jason Aldean’s song 'Try That in a Small Town' after the country singer was hit with backlash and accusations of racism.
Aldean's song was first released in May as the lead single to his upcoming studio album, but it's received more attention in recent days thanks to the arrival of the accompanying music video.
The video was filmed outside the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee; the place where 18-year-old Black teenager Henry Choate was lynched in 1927, and where the Columbia race riot was held in 1946.
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The video was originally also interspersed with footage of Black Lives Matter protests.
Lyrics of the song, which Aldean didn't write, include: “Sucker punch somebody on a sidewalk / Carjack an old lady at a red light / Pull a gun on the owner of a liquor store.
“Well, try that in a small town / See how far ya make it down the road / Around here, we take care of our own.”
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The release of the music video prompted widespread criticism, with Justin Jones, Democrat state representative for Tenessee, commenting: "As Tennessee lawmakers, we have an obligation to condemn Jason Aldean’s heinous song calling for racist violence.
"What a shameful vision of gun extremism and vigilantism. We will continue to call for common sense gun laws, that protect ALL our children and communities."
Aldean has responded to the criticism to argue there is 'not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it', and that video clips included are 'real news footage'.
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He has received support from fans, and podcast host Rogan joined those fighting his corner when he sat down with author Gad Saad in an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience released this week.
Rogan commented: "The level of outrage, now I'm not saying that that's the greatest song the world's ever known... but the level of outrage coming from people that are upset about that song is so strange when there are hundreds of rap songs out there that are infinitely worse and also enjoyable."
Rogan claimed there's 'a lot of wild sh*t' out there, adding: "It was crazy because like the real ANTIFA problems that were happening during the BLM, I think it was a lot of white people doing that, right? Wasn't it?
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"It was a lot of like, lost liberal whites who were very angry, who decided to take up this movement and smash things. So like, the racial aspect of it, there's nothing racial about the lyrics."
The music video for 'Try That in a Small Town' has been edited since it was first released to remove the references to the BLM protests, and on Tuesday (25 July) Country Music Television confirmed it had pulled the video from its rotation.
UNILAD has contacted representatives for Aldean for comment.
Emily Brown