The name isn’t new. Even though he’s suddenly gaining nationwide attention, he’s been around and buzzing for a long time. For those of you that are just finding out about him, here’s your chance to meet Jelly Roll, the rapper-turned-country music artist. Get familiar, with these facts about Jelly Roll.
Jelly Roll is a musical force that has shown no signs of stopping since he first began making music two decades ago, back in 2003. The Nashville native has been on the scene for quite some time, but his name has been ringing endless bells as of late. This southern musician even went viral for winning Best New Artist at the latest Country Music Awards, a testament to his never ending pursuit, even if that means winning the award at 38 years old. His speech was so moving that it made massive rounds on the internet.
Find out more about the incredibly talented, rising star who had humble beginnings selling mixtapes out his car with these facts about the man.
Meet Jelly Roll
with these Jelly Roll facts
01. Jelly Roll’s real name is Jason Bradley DeFord. He was born on December 4, 1984 in Antioch, Tennessee. His mother reportedly inspired his stage name as she nicknamed him Jelly Roll as a child due to his chubby figure.
02. He’s nominated for two Grammys at the 2024 Award Show: Best New Artist and Best Country Duo/Group Performance for his song “Save Me” performed with Lainey Wilson.
Fresh off the heels of his recent CMA award, he learned of his nomination and reacted via a very emotional Instagram post.
“The Greatest honor an artist can ever hear is that they’ve been nominated for a Grammy…and I get to hear that this morning,” he said in the post. “I ain’t cried like this since my daddy died. I tried to make this video seven times y’all. I love y’all man, so f*cking much.”
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03. “Save Me” was originally released in 2000 as a single from Jelly Roll’s album, Self Medicated album. The song was re-recorded with Lainey Wilson as an official remix and released in 2023, as a single on his album, Whitsitt Chapel.
04. While Jelly Roll is being recognized as a “new artist,” he has actually released 7 studio albums. Whitsitt Chapel was his second album release under major label, BBR Music Group, a division of BMG Music. Jelly Roll signed to them in 2021. The label is also home to Jason Aldean and the previously mentioned Wilson.
05. In addition to his 7 studio albums, Jelly Roll has released over 2 dozen combined mixtapes and EPs.
06. Ironically, Whitsitt Chapel is Jelly Roll’s first complete country music album. He has dabbled in several genres before, and had previously recorded country music songs, but not a complete country music album until this.
07. Jelly Roll was reportedly in and out of prison before making it big as a musician. According to Billboard, he was charged with robbery as a teen and at 21, he was charged with possession with intent to distribute.
08. He was also candid about abusing drugs, saying, “In the beginning, I did a lot of drugs. I drank a lot of codeine, a lot of cough syrup… I took a lot of Xanax, did a lot of cocaine, just really took it overboard. I’ve had years–dude, I don’t remember years.”
09. Jelly Roll’s introduction to the music scene was Hip hop, as his influences include the legendary Three 6 Mafia, UGK, and 8Ball & MJG. “The culture I was first exposed to was hip-hop. Not even just music, but the culture–breakdancing, graffiti, freestyling, the clothing,” he told Billboard. However, he has other influences in the country music world including Johnny Cash, Jim Croce, James Taylor, Willie Nelson, and Waylon Jennings, among others. In a Facebook post from 2018, he wrote about selling mixtapes out his car in the beginning of his career. “I used to pull up and hop out at car washes on sunny days and pass out mixtapes to everyone,” he said in the FB post. “I’d make people put it in right then and turn it up. We would pull off hearing multiple cars banging the new tapes. All I wanted back then was to make it out the streets.”
10. Years before he was winning awards, he got into a public back and forth with the Waffle House chain of restaurants over his Whiskey, Weed, & Waffle House mixtape series. Their legal team basically forced him to change the name of the series, which he did, changing it to Whiskey, Weed, & Women.
11. Back in 2013 we interviewed rapper Lil Wyte, who at the time released a joint album with Jelly Roll, titled No Filter. Here’s what he had to say about his chemistry with Jelly Roll:
Me and Jelly have known each other for about 8 or 9 years. We did a track together back in 2009 called, “Poppin of the Pill” and we figured out we had good chemistry. We went our separate ways as solo artists and we both have been pretty successful. This time around it was actually my manager’s idea for us to reunite. He suggested that we do more than just a song. You know, give our fans an entire project. I flew out to Nashville, and we went right in. We got the album done in 6 days.
12. In addition to his collaboration with Lil Wyte, Jelly Roll has been featured on many Hip-Hop albums over the years, including projects from Tech N9ne, The Game, Busta Rhymes, Xzibit, Gangsta Boo and more.
We’re so happy for Jelly Roll’s accomplishments and look forward to seeing him do more big things as his career unfolds.
Image Credit: Kevin Winter / Staff | Getty Images
