GRAMMY-winning songwriter and producer Carlos Battey, who has worked with the likes of Madonna, Flo Rida and Justin Bieber, is reintroducing himself as an artist in his own right in 2022. Performing under the moniker Jackie's Boy — named after his late mother, Jackie Battey — he uses his artist project to explore his genre-spanning musical style and further his already well-established knack for sharp lyricism.
This episode of Positive Vibes only spotlights Jackie's Boy's gripping "End," a song that calls out for racial justice and a stop to police violence against Black people. Specifically, the song tells the stories of Tamir Rice and Breonna Taylor, two of the many young Black people who have lost their lives at the hands of police officers over the past decade.
Throughout "End," Jackie's Boy tells Taylor and Rice's stories and recounts the last moments of their lives in sobering, specific detail. "Beautiful smile, he was kissed by the sun/ Innocent heart, never hurt anyone/ Happened so fast he couldn't even run/ Why was he taken so young?" he sings of Rice, who was just 12 years old when he was gunned down by a police officer in Cleveland, Ohio in 2014.
To underscore the song's message, the singer holds up black-and-white portraits of Rice and Taylor as he sings, his face filled with pain and emotion — keeping the sobering and powerful subject matter at the front and center of his performance.
Despite the song's heartbreaking inspiration, Jackie's Boy also uses "End" as a call for change. "What could have been/ What should have been/ More than a trend/ It's got to end," he sings on the chorus. That sentiment is echoed on the song's climactic bridge: "Enough is enough now/ The system corrupt now/ Enough is enough now/ No innocent gundown."
Watch the video above to hear the song's gripping message in full, and keep checking GRAMMY.com for more episodes of Positive Vibes Only.