Tom MacDonald’s ‘American Flags’ Song Is Worse Than Jason Aldean's 'Small Town' So Where's The Outrage?

Rapper Tom MacDonald flies under the radar of most pop culture pundits. 

You won’t read about him in Variety or The Hollywood Reporter, and journalists aren’t clamoring to interview him about his improbable success story. He’s an indie musician – no label, no management team – so rebellious he refuses to adopt a genre-friendly name.

That moniker belies his subversive streak.

MacDonald songs like “Fake Woke,” “Snowflakes” and “End of the World” throw sharp elbows amidst hypnotic rhymes. And they rack up millions of YouTube views and record sales, inspiring a right-leaning fan base in the process.

So why isn’t the media melting down over his new song, “American Flags?” The video’s imagery is as in-your-face as possible, including tanks and fighter jets. In six days the video generated north of 5.1 million views.

And consider the following lyrics:

Take a look inside my closet, you gon’ see way more than hangersHammers like I do construction, ammo, I'ma shoot at somethin’Why you think we own these guns?So we can just go do some huntin’?You must not pay close attentionGovernment, they want divisionOnly treason if you loseI guarantee we come out winnin’Let my flag fly high like eaglesI would die for all my peopleYou can’t change me with proceduresI’m ‘bout freedom, you ‘bout evilLeave you hangin’ from the ceilin’, like chandeliers in cathedralsNever have the safety on and when we run out we just reload

Where's The Outrage?

Those lyrics make Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town” sound quaint by comparison. Aldean’s track made him Public Enemy No. 1 in the press for capturing the rage many felt when far-left protests inspired by the death of George Floyd turned violent. 

They stayed violent for months on end, curdling into a “Defund the Police” narrative that helped spike violent crime nationwide.

The same press that called violent protests “mostly peaceful” think Aldean’s song is the worst thing since 2019’s “Joker” sparked an incel revolution.

(Except it did nothing of the kind despite the media’s fear-mongering).

Variety called “Try That in a Small Town” the most “contemptible” track of the decade. 

An NPR pundit said the song “jab(s) at those of us who believe that the system is not just rigged against Black people, but was designed with the express intention of keeping Black people from being equal.”

Everyone has a right to their opinion, but many who believe what this writer says helped burn down cities nationwide. We’ll assume the author put her pen down rather than object to those attacks on our fellow citizens and the businesses they poured their lives into creating.

The same media that savaged Aldean are standing down rather than smite, or even mention, the new MacDonald track.

Why?

MacDonald Is Not On Media's Radar

For one, many still don't know he exists. MacDonald’s fame exists outside the mainstream, so many potentially offended souls aren’t aware of his new, incendiary track.

It helps that he’s a hip-hop star, not a country crooner. The media and the Left (but we repeat ourselves) loathe country music. It’s why the press poured gasoline on the Cancel Culture fires when country superstar Morgan Wallen was caught uttering the “n-word.”

Reporters used the incident to smite the country genre in general.

“A year of country music controversies has left some fans disappointed — and wondering whether they should keep listening,” whined The Washington Post in 2021. Or, the very same WaPo writer blasting country music for making a song originally written by a black, gay artist into a chart topper.

Perhaps the Left/Media realize their fake outrage over Aldean’s song helped propel it to the top of the charts. And they’d rather do anything else than play a role in MacDonald’s “American Flag” repeating the same feat.