Dirt Road Anthem

"Dirt Road Anthem"
Single by Jason Aldean
from the album My Kinda Party
Released	April 4, 2011
Format	Music download
Genre	Country, Country-rap
Length	3:50
Label	Broken Bow
Writer(s)	Brantley Gilbert, Colt Ford
Producer	Michael Knox
Jason Aldean singles chronology
"Don't You Wanna Stay" (2010) "Dirt Road Anthem" (2011) "Tattoos on This Town" (2011)

"Dirt Road Anthem" is the title of a song written by American country music artists Colt Ford and Brantley Gilbert (who also wrote Aldean's hit "My Kinda Party"), both of whom recorded their own versions of the song. Jason Aldean re-recorded the song for his 2010 album My Kinda Party, and released it as the third single from the album in April 2011. The song debuted as a single as Aldean's previous single, "Don't You Wanna Stay", was currently at the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.

Content

"Dirt Road Anthem" is a mid-tempo song, styled as country rap. The song expresses country pride, southern values, and remembering good times from the past.

Country rapper Colt Ford originally recorded the song for his 2008 album Ride Through the Country, with Brantley Gilbert singing vocals on the chorus. Gilbert later recorded a revisited version of the song for his 2010 album Halfway to Heaven.^[1]

According to The Boot, Aldean's publicist teased about the song, suggesting Aldean listened to "a little Snoop Dogg in his time"; regarding the song, Aldean said he did not consider "Dirt Road Anthem" a rap song. He continued by saying, "...if I was to do anything like that, it's not going to be like Kanye West-style or anything."^[2]

Live performance

At the 2011 CMT Music Awards, Aldean performed the song with guest rapper Ludacris, who joined Aldean onstage after the second chorus to perform his own hip hop-style second verse. On picking Ludacris for the collaboration, Aldean said, "...even though our music is totally different, our roots are the same. We both know about hot Georgia summers and cooling off with a six pack or two. It wasn't that much of a stretch."^[3] A remixed studio version featuring Ludacris was released for digital download through iTunes on June 9, 2011.

Music video

The music video for "Dirt Road Anthem", directed by Deaton-Flanigen Productions, premiered June 13, 2011 on CMT. The video was entirely shot in black-and-white, portraying Aldean driving a Ram truck through the countryside and stopping at a clearance where he reminisces of his teenage years of partying with friends around a campfire.

Critical reception

"Dirt Road Anthem" has received overall mixed reception from critics. Matt Bjorke of Roughstock gave "Dirt Road Anthem" a 4.5 star rating, saying "Jason Aldean knows he’s not a rapper and this isn’t a style of music that he’ll continuously do...but as for a new song with a different sound, it certainly works."^[4] Kevin John Coyne of Country Universe gave the song a D rating, using heavy sarcasm to acknowledge that the song's content followed tired, formulaic patterns often used in other country music songs.^[5]

Chart performance

The song debuted at number 57 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for the chart week dated February 5, 2011, as an album cut from unsolicited airplay. "Dirt Road Anthem" had reached a peak of number 49 before being released as a single in April 2011.^[6] The song later became Aldean's sixth number one hit on the Hot Country Songs chart the week of July 30, 2011.^[7] It also debuted at number 68 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week of April 23, 2011. It has since become his first Top Ten hit on that chart, and the highest-charting single of his career. It also debuted at number 92 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart for the week of May 28, 2011.

As of September 2011, the song has sold over 2,000,000 downloads in the US alone. It's the first song by a male solo country artist to achieve this feat.^[8]

Charts

Chart (2011)	Peak position
US Billboard Hot 100[9]	7
US Country Songs (Billboard)[10]	1
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[11]	39

Certifications

Country	Certification
United States	2× Platinum[12]

Preceded by "If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away" by Justin Moore

Billboard Hot Country Songs number-one single July 30, 2011

Succeeded by "Tomorrow" by Chris Young

References

1. ^ "CMT.com : Brantley Gilbert : Album". CMT. http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/gilbert__brantley/2506478/album.jhtml. Retrieved 2011-02-05. 
2. ^ Betts, Stephen (2010-08-23). "Jason Aldean Throws 'My Kinda Party' in November". The Boot. http://www.theboot.com/2010/08/23/jason-aldean-my-kinda-party-new-album-2010/. Retrieved 2010-08-24. 
3. ^ "Ludacris to Go Country With Jason Aldean at CMT Music Awards!". Jason Aldean. http://www.jasonaldean.com/story/news/ludacris_to_go_country_with_jason_aldean_at_cmt_music_awards. Retrieved 2011-06-09. 
4. ^ Bjorke, Matt (2011-03-28). "Jason Aldean - "Dirt Road Anthem"". Roughstock. http://www.roughstock.com/blog/jason-aldean-dirt-road-anthem-single-review. Retrieved 2011-04-13. 
5. ^ Coyne, Kevin John (2011-04-11). "Single review: Jason Aldean, "Dirt Road Anthem"". Country Universe. http://www.countryuniverse.net/2011/04/11/single-review-jason-aldean-dirt-road-anthem/. Retrieved 2011-04-16. 
6. ^ "Dirt Road Anthem - Jason Aldean". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/#/song/jason-aldean/dirt-road-anthem/22759421/. Retrieved 2011-03-09. 
7. ^ "Chart Highlights: Adult Contemporary, Dance/Club Play Songs & More". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/column/chartbeat/chart-highlights-adult-contemporary-dance-1005281582.story. Retrieved 2011-07-21. 
8. ^ Grein, Paul (9-4-2011). "Week Ending Sept. 4, 2011. Songs: Adele's Back On Top". Chart Watch. Yahoo Music. http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart_watch/74409/week-ending-sept-4-2011-songs-adeles-back-on-top/. Retrieved September 4, 2011. 
9. ^ "Jason Aldean Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Hot 100 for Jason Aldean. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved April 14, 2011.
10. ^ "Jason Aldean Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Country Songs for Jason Aldean. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
11. ^ "Jason Aldean Album & Song Chart History" Canadian Hot 100 for Jason Aldean. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved May 19, 2011.
12. ^ "American single certifications – Jason Aldean – Dirt Road Anthem". Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?artist=%22Dirt+Road+Anthem%22.  If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH