Fentanyl

Hey there, Zoo Freaks! The Zoo Crew is spinning the hard-hitting track "Fentanyl" by Jesse Welles from his album Hells Welles, and this song’s got some stories that’ll make you lean in closer to your radio. Released on April 23, 2024, "Fentanyl" is a raw folk protest song tackling the opioid crisis with biting lyrics like, “All the way from China / Over the Pacific / It’s the atom bomb of drugs / Boy, is she terrific.” Welles dropped this track after it gained traction on social media, especially TikTok and Instagram, where fans praised its unfiltered take on the crisis—110,000 deaths in a single year, outstripping casualties from Vietnam to Iraq. One fan on Reddit raved about a live performance at Antone’s in Austin on April 10, 2025, where Welles debuted a new verse, showing he’s still tweaking the song to keep it fresh. The track’s sardonic tone, calling fentanyl “Beijing bullshit powder,” stirred some controversy, with a few X posts debating its political edge, but that’s what makes it a staple for the Zoo Crew’s vibe—real, raw, and unafraid.

Another tidbit that’s got the Zoo Freaks buzzing is how "Fentanyl" fits into Welles’ broader mission on Hells Welles. In a 2024 interview with Saving Country Music, Welles described the album as a snapshot of current events, with "Fentanyl" standing out for its laser focus on the drug’s supply chain—from Chinese precursors to Mexican labs to American streets. Fans on Facebook have shared how the song’s chorus, urging listeners to “keep the Narcan close,” hit home for those who’ve lost loved ones. One r/JesseWelles subreddit post called it “the best thing on the album,” with users swapping stories of hearing it live, where Welles’ raspy delivery and fingerpicking turned it into a haunting anthem. The song’s YouTube video, posted on April 23, 2024, shows Welles in a forest, strumming with an intensity that’s pure hippie-soul, perfect for THE ZOO’s eclectic airwaves.

Now, let’s rewind to how Jesse Welles got his start, because this guy’s journey is as wild as a Zoo Crew playlist. Born Jesse Wells on November 22, 1994, in Ozark, Arkansas, he grew up in a small town with a turkey plant and a couple of gas stations. By age 11, he was strumming a guitar, and as a teen, he burned his own CDs to sell his songs, influenced by folk, country, classic rock, Motown, Bob Dylan, and Nirvana. Welles, who later added an extra “e” to his last name for symmetry with his first, kicked off his career around 2012 under the alias Jeh Sea Wells, posting homemade tracks on SoundCloud and Bandcamp. He formed the band Dead Indian that year with Dirk Porter and Simon Martin, dropping two albums before the group split in 2015. That same year, he moved to Nashville to work with producer Dave Cobb, releasing a cover of Nirvana’s “Heart-Shaped Box” and starting a new band, Cosmic American, which fizzled out by 2016 after a Fayetteville Public Television gig.

Welles’ big break came with his 2018 debut album Red Trees and White Trashes under the mononym Welles, produced by Cobb and released by 300 Entertainment. But it was in 2023, after his father survived a heart attack, that he pivoted to the folk protest style Zoo Freaks know him for. Posting covers on TikTok, he soon started writing originals like "Fentanyl," fueled by current events and a DIY ethos. Living in an art commune near Fayetteville until 2016, Welles drew inspiration from American wordsmiths like Walt Whitman and Cormac McCarthy, giving his songs a poetic grit. His social media presence—Instagram, X, and Facebook—keeps fans hooked with weekly song snippets, amassing over a million followers. For Zoo Freaks wanting more, check out the r/JesseWelles subreddit or the Jesse Welles (Fan Run) Facebook group, where fans share concert pics and debate lyrics. Keep it locked to THE ZOO for more from this folk hero!