Jelly Roll Wants to ‘Have a Conversation’ With People He Wronged

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Jelly Roll has long been candid about his jail stints, and often sings about redemption in his music. Now, he hopes to redeem himself for one of his past misdeeds.

During the Monday, October 14 episode of Jay Shetty’s On Purpose podcast, Jelly, 39 — whose real name is Jason DeFord — opened up 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 conversation with them,” Jelly said. “I’ve thought about reaching out. This has been 24 years ago now. And I just don’t know how that would even start — you know, how I would go about it — because sometimes I wonder if they might have even seen me in passing or are aware of my success.”

Jelly continued, explaining the mentality that led him to committing the armed robbery. “The first accountability is, no matter how old I was, I had no business taking from anybody. Just the entitlement that I had, this, the world owed me enough that I could come take your stuff.”

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 centers and jails into his 20s. Many of his charges and felonies were related to possession with intent to distribute, as well as armed robbery.

Jelly shared that he has not been in contact with the victims of his armed robbery, but if he were to reconnect with them, he said he would hope that they see that success has changed him for the better. “Money doesn’t create character, it reveals it,” he expressed.