By Shawn Smith
Rapper and country singer Jelly Roll knows about life’s detours.
Jelly Roll was baptized as a teenager but soon after became addicted to drugs and was in constant trouble with the law before setting his life straight and coming back to faith.
“I took the scenic route here,” he told Jennifer Hudson on her talk show. “I made a series of decisions from the age of 14 to 25 that would lead me to spend the most of that time in and out of the judicial system. Rightfully so. I had a complete wrong approach to life.”
It was during his last time in prison in 2008 that he learned about the birth of his daughter, Bailee, which led to a “Damascus road” experience.
“At that moment, I just wanted to be a father, and I immediately started coming home and selling mix tapes out of the truck of my car, and just trying to figure it out,“ he recalled. “And God just kept blessing, man.”
Now, the “Need a Favor” singer is “shameless” in sharing the grace he found in God.
“I’ve done everything I could to spit in His face and not get His grace,” Jelly Roll said. “And He continued to just pour it on me and love on me in times where I felt unlovable, and He taught me to love myself. My faith is nothing short of everything in my life.”
Jelly Roll, born Jason DeFord, often performs music for inmates, stating that he wants to show up for people after knowing what it is like to be in a “place in life where nobody shows up for you.”
“I believe that, you know, the Lord called us to look after the widows, to feed the hungry, to visit those in jail,” DeFord said. “This was kind of direct from the Big Man…this was written in red. You know, if you read the Bible I’m reading, and I’m just trying to do what I said I was gonna do…what I was called to do.”
DeFord says he strives to keep Bailee, now 16, from falling into the same path that he did when he was her age.
“I don’t judge you based on what you do. I judge you based on what I know you’re capable of,” the father of two recalled telling his daughter.
Related: Jelly Roll Shares How Addiction Impacts His Daughter’s Life
“You’re so much smarter than I was at 16. You’re so much better, so much more emotionally intelligent,” he added.
Things keep looking up for DeFord as he became AMERICAN IDOL’S first Artist In Residence, where he is mentoring contestants, he affectionately calls his “jelly babies,” throughout the Season 23 of the hit show.
“I got to do a mentoring session at AMERICAN IDOL last season, and I harassed production. When I left, I was like, ‘I need to do this full time.’ I was like, ‘I need to come back every year and work with these kids,’” the songwriter recalling how he got the job.
The Nashville native recently has been recommended by the Tennessee Board of Parole for a pardon for his past crimes. Now the decision is in the hands of Governor Bill Lee.
“This was incredible. I pray this goes through. But today was special for me, regardless,” Jelly Roll wrote in a press release.
Meanwhile, the three-time CMT Music Awards winner and grammy nominated artist is grateful for where he is at today. Among all his accolades, Jelly Roll told Hudson that his 2023 CMA award for Best New Artist is particularly meaningful.
“I won Best New Artist right before I turned 40 years old,” the artist said. “I was the oldest artist in the history of country music to win that award for being the best new artist, and I carry that deep with me, because I think it’s important people to know that it’s never too late to change anything. It’s never too late to make any turn in your life.”
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