The following article contains references to drug use.
“They said my voice wasn’t cool enough.
They said I wasn’t marketable.
They said I was too fat and too trashy.”
You’d better believe those labels began calling, and he ultimately signed with one.
This is how he got here.
From as early as he can remember, his mother battled addiction while also coping with mental health issues.
“I knew my father booked bets.
“So, to me, this was just what you did.”
He was arrested for the first time at 14, and it wouldn’t be his last.
He was sentenced to eight years behind bars but wound up serving just over a year.
If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available.
Visit theSubstance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration websiteor contact SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
“He said, ‘DeFord, you had a kid today.’
I said, ‘What?’
He said, ‘Yeah, yeah, you had a child.’
And I was like, ‘What’s her name?’
“It was kind of that moment for me.”
With some hard time left to serve, Jelly Roll began to use his time productively.
“I grilled hamburgers and hot dogs,” he told Billboard.
“I didn’t have a choice.
It was me or them, and I had to learn to love myself.”
“Somebody save me, me from myself,” he sang in his single “Save Me.”
“I’ve spent so long livin' in hell.”
“The culture I was first exposed to was hip-hop,” he told Billboard.
“Not even just music, but the culture breakdancing, graffiti, freestyling, the clothing.”
As he immersed himself in Nashville’s burgeoning rap scene, he began creating his own music.
“I’m just like, ‘Yo, here’s a sack of weed.
Here’s a gram of coke.
Here’s a mixtape.’
Know what I’m saying?
‘I rap, too!’
It was like my business card,” he explained while speaking with “CBS Sunday Morning.”
“Even my drug dealing, to me, was always a means to music.”
“Like, it’s just not in the bingo card for what the climate of music is.”
His new musical offering quickly attracted attention but not exactly the kind he’d expected.
“I still come by one anytime I’m drunk or hungover,” he added.
Additionally, Bunnie was an escort who had a boyfriend at the time.
Once Bunnie ditched that boyfriend, the two began dating.
“I’m like, ‘F*** it, let’s just go now.’
This time, Bunnie was decked out in a stunning white gown.
“My only regret was never seeing her in a dress.”
“‘There’s also a woman out there that’s pregnant with a kid of mine.’
Bunnie is just like, ‘Whew, man, that’s a lot.’
She was like, ‘But I got you.'”
Jelly Roll’s daughter, Bailee Ann, shared her thoughts in a2022 Instagram post.
“In 2016 my life changed forever, for the better,” she wrote.
“My dad got custody of me, and so did his wife.”
He landed a No.
“I loved his vocal.
I just said, ‘That’s a country song.’
I was convinced his storytelling, his heart, and his brand would be accepted by our genre.”
“Dead Man Walking” gave Jelly Roll his first-ever No.
“And they’re killing the people we love.”
“I’m probably down 70-something pounds,” he revealed.
“I’ve been really kicking a**, man.
I’m doing two to three miles a day, four to six days a week.
I’m doing 20 to 30 minutes in the sauna, six minutes in a cold plunge every day.
I’m eating healthy right now.”
