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

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 armed robbery arrest, which happened 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 putting my hand in. That’s been 24 years ago now. And I don’t even know how this would start, you know, how I would, because sometimes I wonder if they might even have seen me in passing or they are aware of my success.”

Jelly Roll 2024
American singer and songwriter Jason “Jelly Roll” DeFord testifies before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee on January 11, 2024 in Washington, DC. The hearing examined legislative and public education solutions to stop…


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Jelly went on to explain the mindset that led him to commit the armed robbery. “The first responsibility is, no matter how old I was, I had no business taking from anybody. Just the right I had, that, the world owed me enough to come and take your stuff.”

The ‘Save Me’ singer’s first arrest came when he was 13, and from there he was in and out of juvenile detention centers and prisons until he was 20. Many of his charges and felonies were related to possession with intent to distribute, as well as armed robbery.

Jelly shared that he hasn’t been in contact with the victims of his armed robbery, but hopes that if they reconnected, they could see how success has changed him for the better. “Money does not create character, it reveals it”, he said.