Jerard Rice Turned 2025 Into a Year of Healing, Truth-Telling, and a Debut Project That Refuses to Stay Quiet

Some artists drop music. Jerard Rice drops perspective. In a year where so much of the industry leaned into surface-level trends and algorithm-chasing singles, Rice did the exact opposite; he made a 10-track project that actually says something.

Love Shouldn’t Cost A Thing isn’t just his debut; it’s the clearest picture yet of who he is as a human being, an activist, a neurodivergent creative, and an artist who’s done shrinking his story to make other people comfortable.

2025 was turbulent for Rice: grief, mental exhaustion, and the long-overdue decision to step back and take care of himself. But somehow, in the middle of that chaos, he delivered his most emotionally expansive and genre-fluid work. The project moves through hip-hop, R&B, world influences, blues textures, and pop accessibility without losing its core: an artist trying to heal in real time.

Tracks like “Petty Love,” “C’est La Vie,” and “Starvin” dig into heartbreak, loss, and survival with no sugar-coating. “Popeye” hits like a manifesto — a socially aware gut punch calling out the systems that overlook marginalized voices. And “Blog It” flips narrative control on its head, reminding listeners that Rice isn’t here to be misinterpreted; he’s here to be understood.

The album’s success, including charting on Amazon, is impressive, but what makes Rice one of the Best Releases of 2025 isn’t numbers. It's impact. His music carries the weight of someone who’s lived through trauma, activism, autism advocacy, and public pressure, yet still believes art can save someone, sometimes even the person making it. His live performances, whether at Fenway Park or Veterans Stadium, carry that same energy: connection over polish, truth over perfection.

Heading into 2026, Rice is hungry for expansion, more shows, more visuals, more collaborations, more space to speak openly about mental health and self-worth. If this year proved anything, it’s that Jerard Rice isn’t just building a career; he’s building a legacy rooted in honesty, resilience, and cultural awareness. And Love Shouldn’t Cost A Thing is the foundation he’s standing on.