Jelly Roll loves giving back. According to Entertainment Tonight, the country musician helped start a music studio inside the Davidson County Juvenile Detention Center in Nashville, Tennessee, where he was once incarcerated. The outlet reported that a portion of the proceeds from Jelly Roll’s Bridgestone Arena headlining show in December and the Redemption Songs event earlier this year helped fund the program.
ET included a quote from the press release of the program that read, “This collaboration, featuring music luminaries Jeffrey Steele and ERNEST, alongside 35 pro/hit songwriters who helped kick off the program launch, embodies the belief in music’s role in personal growth and redemption, showcasing the journey from juvenile detention to success.” In December 2022, the musician spoke to People magazine about creating a music studio in the detention center and how he wants “to bring hope” to troubled youths.
He told the outlet at the time, “It’s important, man. I think it’s important that we give back, especially [to] our kids. Man, our youth are so impressionable, and the old quote goes, ‘None of them asked to be here.’” Jelly Roll continued, “They were born into just whatever situation it was, and sometimes they can’t see past that situation or that neighborhood or that environment. I just hope to bring hope to that and kind of be a beacon and a light for those kids.” At the time, People shared that Jelly Roll was teaming up with the nonprofit Impact Youth Outreach to create the music studio. He told the outlet that it was during his time serving at the juvenile center that he found his passion for music.
“I was in and out of there for about three, three and a half years. I spent a lot of time there and eventually got charged as an adult for a crime I committed as a juvenile,” he told the outlet. “And I just realized that was the most impactful thing that ever happened in my life, and the darkest moments of my life still were being that 15-year-old scared kid spending Thanksgiving away from his family.” Jelly Roll continued, “I knew that I wanted to give back whenever I was in a situation too, and I always knew I wanted to make it really personal. So, I went back to the same juvenile that I started doing music at. I wrote some of my first raps there, and I had my first big rap battle there.”
In an interview with Fox News Digital ahead of the CMT Music Awards, Jelly Roll said, “God had a bigger purpose” for him. “Faith was a lot of me believing it was going to work out for me,” he said. “Could you imagine being a 37-year-old, unsuccessful musician when you told people that was your job?” Jelly Roll, who rose to prominence with his 2021 album, “Ballad of the Broken,” explained that he had been creating music for years before he got recognition.
In 2003, he took a shot at creating hip-hop music with his first release, “The Plain Shmear Tape,” but eventually made his way to country and rock music.