Beautifully Broken
Jelly Roll’s quick rise from obscure Nashville hip-hop artist to beloved country singer-songwriter is one of the genre’s more exciting success stories in recent memory. In just a couple years’ time, the Antioch, Tennessee-born and -raised artist, whose offstage name is Jason DeFord, has won major awards, including New Artist of the Year at the 2023 CMAs, a category that often serves as an industry coronation. During that period, he collaborated with a laundry list of stars from country music and beyond, including Lainey Wilson, Eminem, Post Malone, and Cody Johnson. It’s appropriate, then, that this follow-up to DeFord’s first proper country album, 2023’s wildly successful *Whitsitt Chapel*, would take an inspirational tone: A man with a checkered past that includes time in prison, Jelly Roll has never shied away from using his own story to motivate others. *Beautifully Broken* opens with “Winning Streak,” a deeply vulnerable song about substance abuse and recovery, with gospel choir vocals backing up DeFord’s hopeful imperatives to “hold on.” He is similarly encouraging on “Everyone Bleeds,” a hip-hop-tinged reminder that money can’t buy immortality, and “Born Again,” a bluesy invocation of resilience that makes great use of his soulful side. Other highlights include single “I Am Not Okay,” a brooding plea for compassion in tough times, and closing track “What’s Wrong with Me,” a comparably bright and buoyant celebration of accepting one’s imperfections.
The former rapper turned country star has the voice, the pathos, and the charisma of an American folk hero. All he needs are the songs.
Country’s breakthrough star sings with the conviction of a man who’s seen too much
As the gravel-voiced singer achieves mainstream success, his music is moving further from his back-country roots – but the grit in his lyrics lifts it above standard pop fare