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Jelly Roll has long been candid about his prison stints and often sings of redemption in his music. Now he hopes to redeem himself for one of his past misdeeds.
During the Monday, October 14 episode of Jay Shettypp With intention podcastJelly, 39 – whose real name is Jason DeFord – spoke about his arrest for armed robbery, which took place when he was 15 years old. The “Winning Streak” singer revealed that he hopes to make amends with the victims.
“I really want to have a talk with them,” Jelly said. “I’ve been thinking about reaching out. This has been 24 years now. And I just don’t know how it would even begin — you know, how I would go about it — because sometimes I wonder if they might even have seen me in passing or are aware of my success.”
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Jelly went on to explain the mentality that led him to commit the armed robbery. “The first accountability is, no matter how old I was, I had no things to take from anybody. Only the right I had, this, the world owed me enough for me to come and take your things.”
The “Save Me” singer’s first arrest took place when he was 13 years old, and from there he had been in and out of juvenile detention and prison into his 20s. Many of his charges and felonies were related to possession with intent to distribute, as well as armed robbery.
Jelly said he hasn’t been in contact with the victims of his armed robberies, but he hopes that if they were to reconnect, they could see how success has changed him for the better. “Money doesn’t make character, it reveals it,” he expressed.