Jelly Roll: See Photos of the Rising Country Rap Star

One of the newest names on the country music scene is Jelly Rolly! The genre-bending musician was nominated for his first Grammy, so take a look at this rising star.

Jelly Roll (b. Jason DeFord on December 4, 1984) is an American rapper, country singer, and rocker who has been making waves since the early 2010s. Hailing from the southside community of Antioch near Nashville, Tennessee, Jelly Roll grew up a troubled youth. He did three years in a juvenile detention center for robbery, and was charged with a felony when he was 21. After struggling with addiction issues, he cleaned his life up with the birth of his daughter. His natural storytelling and gift for music led him to begin a country rap career. He teamed frequently with fellow southern rapper Lil Whyte in his early career, and forged a friendship with Struggle Jennings (resulting in a quartet of collaborative albums.) In 2021, Jelly Roll released ‘Ballads of the Broken,’ which saw him focus more on singing than rapping. The album contained ‘Son of a Sinner,’ his first ever No. 1 country radio hit.