Bro Kendricks El Embraces Love and Redemption on New Single “143”

Bro Kendricks El is not treating “143” like a simple love song. For the Detroit artist, the new single and video come from a place he says once felt far away from love altogether. The title uses old beeper code for “I love you,” but the record is less about nostalgia than return: a man looking back at what shaped him and choosing a different center for what he leaves behind. “Love is the strongest force in the universe,” he says. The single is out now as part of what Bro Kendricks El describes as his final album.

He started making music because he had a story to tell. Detroit was the first reason. Bro Kendricks El felt the city was not being represented the way it should be, so he began writing his own view into the record. He has been writing songs since he was 12, with Motown around him early and influences from across genres widening the frame as he kept going. The sound he describes now is “one with nature,” built around a slow groove that can ride, cool out, and leave the message space to settle.

That message has changed as his life has changed. Bro Kendricks El speaks plainly about tragic losses in his family between 1980 and 1990, and about finding the Moorish Science Temple of America while in federal prison. He does not use those facts for shock. He talks about them as the ground that changed his belief system, strengthened his belief in God, and helped build the person he is now. “I only want to guide people in that which is right,” he says. “143” comes from that new responsibility, but it does not strain to announce it. The song moves at the pace he describes: unhurried, reflective, made for a ride or a room where somebody can actually sit with the words. For Bro Kendricks El, writing about love is not a decorative choice. “Coming from where I come from, love was the least thing on my mind,” he says. That makes the single feel like more than a theme. It is an admission, and maybe a correction.

The video follows the same instinct by avoiding the obvious. Bro Kendricks El left the creative direction to the team behind it, but gave them one clear charge: give the world something out of the ordinary. That leaves “143” in a space that fits him — personal, spiritual, and not too neat. As he moves toward what he calls his final album, he is not trying to clean up the road behind him or package transformation as easy. He is putting love at the front of the story because it took this long to get there, and because he wants the last word to point somewhere better.

How did “143” come together?

Well all of my music is true to my life. So I got with my producer Killa Smuv, and R&B artist B-Love and made it happen.

Why did you want to make a song about love?

Many people don’t the true meaning of love, so I thought I would give it to them in the highest form.

How did Detroit shape you as an artist?

Growing up in the era of Detroit that I did, people were either selling drugs or using them. So I saw and experienced things children my age aren’t supposed to!

What has kept you making music for so many years?

Knowing that I can help someone get through a situation with my music keeps me going.

How have your life experiences changed your music?

Creating the music you have lived makes it easier to make it.

What was it like letting the video team take the lead?

Once they sent me the 1st clip of the video, I knew I made the right decision of letting them do their thing.

What did you think of the finished video?

I was very pleased with the video aside from a few images of me 

What can fans expect from your final album?

Fans can expect one of the best albums of the year. Not only can you ride to it, but you can learn something.

Anything else you want to say to the hip-hop community?

Don’t let anyone influence you to support bad music; if you don’t feel it in your soul, it’s got to go!

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