Jelly Roll Featured In ‘The New York Times’

In the Thursday, April 27, version of The New York Times, journalist Alan Light profiled an unlikely star for the historic paper: Jelly Roll.

Titled “Meet Jelly Roll, the Rapper Turned Country Singer Rousing Nashville,” the profile dives into Jelly Roll’s journey from a “former addict and drug dealer” to the man who swept the CMT Music Awards in April.

“It was an absolute dream come true, the best-case scenario, and I’ve had a worst-case scenario life up to this point,” Jelly Roll informed Light. “I spent my entire childhood feeling like I didn’t belong—in every situation, I felt like the uncomfortable fat kid. So that was like my high school prom and the graduation I never had, on national television.”

Preparing for Whitsitt Chapel

On June 2, Jelly Roll will rejoice the discharge of his newest album, Whitsitt Chapel, named after a church positioned on Pleasant Hill Road in Nashville, Tennessee. Whitsitt Chapel Baptist Church was the church Jelly Roll grew up attending, and his religion journey and personal spirituality will little doubt saturate the 13 tracks on the brand new album.

The opening lyrics to the upcoming album’s first single, “Need a Favor,” seize that journey as Jelly Roll sings, “I only talk to God when I need a favor / And I only pray when I ain’t got no prayer.“

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“My music is a constant cry for help and growth,” he mentioned within the Times, “it tells a story of change, and I wasn’t ready for this before now.”

While Whitsitt Chapel is being heralded as Jelly Roll’s first nation album, “Need a Favor” has already taken rock radio by storm this 12 months, one thing Jelly Roll has not too long ago grown accustomed to.

Among artists like Muse, Bush, Halestorm, Ghost, Falling in Reverse and Shinedown, Jelly Roll had the second most-played music on rock radio in 2022 with “Dead Man Walking” from his album, Ballads of the Broken (the No. 1 music was Three Days Grace’s “So Called Life”).

No matter how a lot success he is skilled or is at the moment experiencing on the rock facet of issues, although, it is clear that Jelly Roll has grown an enormous fanbase with the nation music viewers.

As Light described within the Times profile, Jelly Roll “has long been studying the careers of country legends and what he can learn from their relationship to their fans.”

Jelly Roll defined, “They’ve stayed true to themselves. You know who they are, and they know who they are and who they’re singing for.”

What’s Next For Jelly Roll?

Jelly Roll has reside exhibits scheduled all through a lot of the 12 months, together with a high-profile slot at this 12 months’s Tidalwave Music Festival in Atlantic City and two nights on the legendary Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington.

But there is not any query he is targeted on getting Whitsitt Chapel within the palms of his followers before everything.

“This is unreal, ya’ll, this is the biggest release of my whole life,” Jelly Roll informed his followers concerning the new album throughout a 420 livestream Q&A on April 20. “I don’t have the biggest fanbase, but we are the mighty 300. This is fucking Sparta. I’ll take my little fanbase and we’ll kick another fanbase’s ass. Every time.”

More than anything, although, it appears that evidently Jelly Roll has the next objective in thoughts past album releases and big excursions.

Light reveals a few of this objective as he defined Jelly Roll’s hope to assist those that battle with addictions in Nashville. “He donated all the profits from [a recent show in Nashville] and, working with the local nonprofit Impact Youth Outreach, built a recording studio inside Davidson County Juvenile Detention Center,” Light wrote.

“That’s not even scratching the surface of my plan,” Jelly Roll admitted to Light. “I’m going to build halfway houses and transitional centers—that’s my real heart.”

Watch Jelly Roll’s Official Music Video For “Need a Favor”

You can learn Light’s profile of Jelly Roll right here and take a look at Jelly Roll’s full tour schedule at this location.