Chicago: A City Of Broken Hearts?

Chicago’s acclaimed singer-songwriter JERELL paints a bleak story of gun violence in the riveting single “City Of Broken Hearts”. The most disturbing part of the nightmare is the complacency and apathy by those sworn to protect the people.
 
 JERELL, who is a remarkable vocal artist in his own right, seems to be channeling Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On. And just like Mr. Gaye’s heartbreak was true, the sorrow in JERELL’s expressive tenor is real as well. Listen as he pleads: “Don’t kill my dreams. I wanna see … what i was meant to achieve” .
 
 Rather than overplay the emotion like a lesser singer might do, JERELL uses a plaintive, somber melody as if he’s numb. Though at times he sounds almost resigned to giving up, he somehow maintains hope that he’ll see tomorrow. ‘
 
 JERELL’s singing style is as nuanced as his writing; he’s an artist who has no need for cliches. “City” is basically a meditation on stolen innocence. Gun violence resulting in a child’s death is an epidemic that’s preventable — but as “City” makes clear, the adults in power don’t have the courage to stop the killing of children.
 
 Hip hop Artist LIMITLESS SOUNDZ counters JERELL’s lament with the righteous rage that always lives near to the sorrow. He spits like a lion, makes “The Hate that Hate Made” sound like a love poem. L.S. is the pressure cooker that the corrupt powers ignore at their own peril.
 
 LIMITLESS SOUNDZ is no soldier of hate though. He’s a Poet, an Orator, a Prophet, an Intellectual, an Activist, a Leader — and if any of those are incorrect, my apologies. I do know that L.S. is a LEGEND: His performance on “Fallen Clouds”, from Legend In The Makin — which featured the Godlike LORD AV — proves that he is in fact a Legend.
 
Finally, the recently released — and long-awaited — visual for “City Of Broken Hearts” is as stunning and vital as the song itself. And after seeing JERELL and LIMITLESS SOUNDZ perform on camera, it wouldn’t surprise anyone to see them starring in feature films or doing theatre in the future.
 
Oh, and Kudos to filmmaker BlaykeBz (aka @blaykeborn). The virtually empty church in the vid is a powerful and haunting metaphor. I’m glad that the visual is not simply a series of shots of random, simulated violence. The empty temple speaks volumes.