{"id":96569,"date":"2026-07-28T09:34:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T08:34:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/?p=96569"},"modified":"2026-07-28T09:34:28","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T08:34:28","slug":"bro-kendricks-els-143-is-no-simple-love-song","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2026\/07\/bro-kendricks-els-143-is-no-simple-love-song\/","title":{"rendered":"Bro Kendricks El’s ‘143’ Is No Simple Love Song"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Detroit artist Bro Kendricks El’s new single, ‘143’, isn’t just a love song, but rather, it’s a track and video that have come from a place he says once felt far away from love altogether.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

‘143’ is code for “I love you”, and it became popular back in the 1990s, when it was used on pagers. The digits refer to the numbers of letters in the words – “I” = 1, “LOVE” = 4, and “YOU” = 3. In the hands of Bro Kendricks El, it’s not necessarily about nostalgia, but rather looking back on what has shaped him in his past, and then turning around and choosing differently with regard to what he leaves behind. Speaking about the track, he says, “Love is the strongest force in the universe”, and he’s released the track as part of what he’s describe as his final album.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bro Kendricks El started making music because he wanted to tell his own story. and he’s been writing songs since he was 12 years old. While Motown was naturally an early influence for this artist from the Motor City, he’s widened his inspiration to take in influences across genres. Now he describes his sound as being “one with nature”, which has been built around a slow groove that can leave space for the message to settle into.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The message Bro Kendricks El has wanted to share has changed depending on where he has been in life. He suffered tragic losses in his family between the years of 1980 and 1990, and while in Federal Prison he found solace through the Moorish Science Temple of America, and that became the grounding for changing his belief system, helping him to become the person he is now. \u201cI only want to guide people in\u00a0that which\u00a0is right\u201d, he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘143’ is unhurried, unstrained, reflective, and moves at a pace that allows the listener to sit with the words. For Bro Kendricks El, writing about love isn’t a merely decorative choice, but rather, it was something he was compelled to do. \u201cComing from where I come from, love was the least thing on my mind\u201d, he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bro Kendricks El left the creative direction for the music video for ‘143’ to the team behind it, but he did give them one instruction: give the world something out of the ordinary. The clip for ‘143’ is just that, and it fits Bro Kendricks El perfectly – it’s spiritual, personal, and not too neat. As he moves towards his final album, Bro Kendricks El is putting love at the front of the story; it took him a long time to get to this point, and he wants his last words to be positive ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch the music video for ‘143’ below, and find out more about Bro Kendricks El and his music online on YouTube<\/a> and Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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