Jason Aldean is defending his new controversial song and music video, which CMT has banned, calling the charges made against it “not only meritless, but dangerous.”

After Aldean debuted “Try That in a Small Town” in May and its accompanying music video on Friday, it was chastised for encouraging gun violence and criticising the Black Lives Matter movement.

“Cuss out an officer, spit in his face / Stomp on the flag and fire it up / Yeah, you think you’re tough / Yeah, you think you’re tough / Yeah, you think you’re tough / Yeah, you think you’re tough Try that in a small town and see how far you get down the road.” Later in the song, Aldean says, “Got a gun my granddad gave me / They say one day they’re gonna round up / Well, that s*** might fly in the city, good luck.”

The music video depicts the burning of the American flag and protests, looting, and other activities. CMT, a channel specialised to country music videos, removed the video off rotation on Monday.

In a tweet on Tuesday, Aldean disputed the charges against his song.

“Within the last 24 hours, I’ve been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song… and have been accused of being dissatisfied with the nationwide BLM protests.” “These references are not only unworthy, but also dangerous,” he wrote. “There isn’t a single lyric in the song that references or refers to race- and there isn’t a single video clip that isn’t real news footage- and while I can try to respect others’ interpretations of a song with music- this one goes too far.”

Some people were angered by the lyrics on social media, especially since Aldean performed onstage at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival in Las Vegas in 2017 when a shooter opened fire, killing 60 concertgoers and injuring hundreds more. The Grammy-nominated singer addressed the tragedy in a tweet, writing, “NO ONE, including me, wants to continue to see senseless headlines or families ripped apart.”

“‘Try That In A Small Town,’ for me, refers to the sense of community I had growing up, where we looked out for our neighbours regardless of background or belief.” Because they were our neighbours, which was more important than any differences,” he went on. “My political views have never been hidden, and I know that many of us in this country disagree on how we can return to a sense of normalcy in which we can go at least a day without a headline that keeps us awake at night.” But the yearning for it to happen is the subject of this song.”