Idol Chatter & Voice Views

.JessLee from The Voice Season 14

It’s called “Ammunition.” And like her 2021 singles “John Doe” and “Part of Me,” it’s not exactly what you’d expect from someone whose Instagram is @jessleecountry.

In fact, she’s labeled her new song “swamp pop” — a blend of southern-rock, country and modern pop.

As for the story behind the song, JessLee says she wrote it three years ago with Steve Virginia and Ali Taylor. She and Virginia produced the track.

“This is my middle finger to the loud mouth folks who do nothing but sit in the stands and give their bs 2 cents while you’re on the field actually playing the game,” she writes on Instagram.

“It’s for the ‘cancel culture-ers.’ The naysayers and non believers who tell you, you can’t or won’t do something because they’re wrapped up in their own silly lies & excuses they’ve created in their heads as to why they can’t get the things they want in life. Basically, for everyone who has a bigger mouth than their actions.”

JessLee, a contestant on The Voice Season 14, says she’s heard plenty of that in the three years since she wrote the song.

And in a separate Instagram post, she singles out some individuals who provided ammunition for “Ammunition,” including a country music star who propositioned her while his fiancée was pregnant. And others who didn’t take her seriously.

“I’ve had so many people tell me ‘I’m too much of this, too little of that, I won’t be able to do this or that’ But I am. I’m living my dream every day, playing some of the largest festivals in the nation as an indie. I’m traveling the world, self produced a top 5 charting album, written with some of the biggest names in this industry & wrote a #12 country music radio single and that just scratches the surface.

“But, what I am most proud of? Along the way, I’ve stayed 100% true to me. My promise is to stay honest with my artistry.
While so many today try and fit their music into a ‘box’ my team & I continue to treat music as a genre-less articulation of what we feel music is supposed to be. The unity of thought, honesty, expression and a life full of musical influences.”

Here’s “Ammunition.”