Crosses and Crossroads

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 <i>Whitsitt Chapel</i>, would take an inspirational tone: A man with a chequered past that includes time in prison, Jelly Roll has never shied away from using his own story to motivate others. <i>Beautifully Broken</i> 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.