BJ The Chicago Kid is a soulful griot, always willing to tell a candid story of life, love and heartache. The Chicago native just released a new short film to deliver yet another narrative that anyone from the inner city can relate to. With the help of female director Child, the two create a poignant tale in the new short film The Opening Ceremony filmed in the heart of L.A. The six-minute short is delivered in three parts with BJ's recent EP The Opening Ceremony providing its soundtrack.
Once you press play, you get three chapters: "Going Once, Going Twice," "Rather Be With You" and "Nothing Into Something," which all give us an inside look into the good and bad side of the hood. The film touches on poverty, love, police brutality and more, with stunning, grainy visual elements you'll want to take in a few times.
While BJ's soothing voice serves as a vocal guide, visually we watch a young boy move through his day, encountering adult circumstances as he tries to hang onto his youth. For example, the young boy attends a cookout that started with dominoes but ends in bullets. In the second part he hangs around the barber shop and later watches a friend get jumped. And finally the last chapter is about love. We watch people deal with loss, a blossoming relationship and losing a loved one.
The Opening Ceremony is a teaser for BJ's sophomore Motown Records effort, which we anticipate later this year. While we anxiously await its release, we're going to keep digging into the short to get our BJTCK fix.
