Jason DeFord, better known by his stage name Jelly Roll (born 4 December 1984), is an American rapper from Nashville. Hailing from the southside community of Antioch, he first jumped into the public eye after collaborating with Memphis-based rapper Lil Wyte on 2010's "Pop Another Pill," a track whose accompanying video racked up over 6 million views on video-streaming channels. The DJ Paul and Juicy J-produced Year Round (2011) marked his first outing as part of SNO, a hip-hop collective he formed with Lil Wyte and BPZ. The Big Sal Story, his proper studio debut, appeared in 2012. In the years that followed, Jelly Roll released two joint LPs with fellow MC Haystak, two collaborative albums with Lil Wyte, and worked with Struggle Jennings on the critically acclaimed Waylon & Willie series. In 2021, the single "Dead Man Walking," included in his album Ballads of the Broken, cracked the Top 10 of Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart. Later that year, he made his Grand Ole Opry debut, and in 2022 was catapulted to the heights of rock 'n' roll fame with his first number one on rock radio for "Dead Man Walking." He then repeated the same feat on country radio, scoring his first country number one for his first out-and-out country single, "Son of a Sinner," which he co-wrote with David Ray Stevens and released as the second single from Ballads of the Broken. Jelly Roll hit the jackpot at the 2023 CMT Music Awards, picking up Male Video of the Year, Male Breakthrough Video of the Year, and Digital-First Performance of the Year, all for "Son of a Sinner." His second studio album Whitsitt Chapel also emerged that year, a country-forward release packed full of personality that boasted collaborations with Brantley Gilbert, Struggle Jennings, Yelawolf, and Lainey Wilson. The album yielded singles in "Need a Favor" and "Save Me" with Lainey Wilson. The year 2024 sees the release of the album Beautifully Broken, an imposing opus of 28 tracks, including the participations of Ilsey, Wiz Khalifa and Colson Baker aka Machine Gun Kelly.
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