Dirt Road Anthem - Jason Aldean

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb9q1ScC4cg]

I can't understand why people are so upset with the blending of rap and country. Every music style that we have today is just a union of one or more other styles of music, and it really all grew out of jazz and blues, the first of popular American music styles. I think people feel like it's one style invading another, but I think that's because people put too much of a label on what a certain style of music is, especially country.

That word, country, doesn't just describe a style of music for a large number of people; it's a way of life. The problem is that people see that traditional "country" as the only country. It doesn't matter if you rap it, shout it, sing it, or speak it, country music is country because of its content, not its presentation.

With that in mind, I think Aldean's song wraps up what country is pretty well. It's about the way you live and the way you were raised, the way you group up, and the lessons you learned in the process. To go even beyond that, country isn't just big trucks and beer, though that is a big part of it for some people. I'm pretty country myself in my morals and respect for other people, but I don't close my mind to other ideas and ways of thinking. Being backward and set in your ways doesn't mean your country, just that you're stubborn.