Selling mixtapes out of his car, Jelly Roll spent a decade in the hip-hop industry before his 2023 country debut, Whitsitt Chapel, sent his music career into overdrive. He recently returned to his hip-hop roots (sort of) on Lil Wayne’s long-awaited new album, The Carter VI. Jelly (born Jason DeFord) makes an appearance alongside Big Sean on the song “Sharks.” This marks his second hip-hop collab in a year after making a cameo last summer on Eminem’s latest, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce.) And apparently, the Grammy nominee now feels he has reached his peak.
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“What a Year”: Jelly Roll Reacts to Lil Wayne Collab
A video shared to social media Thursday (June 5) by Bunnie Xo shows her husband enthusiastically listening to The Carter VI, which dropped today.
“It’s happened! It happened!” Jelly Roll shouts before declaring, “I’m on The Carter VI, baby!’
“This is me, for real,” he adds, singing along as “Sharks” begins to play.
At the end of the video, something dawns on the “Need a Favor” singer, 40. “I was on Lil Wayne and Eminem’s album in the same year, y’all,” Jelly exclaims. “I retire. It’s over, y’all, I quit the music business. This is my last tour ever. I can’t do anything cool.”
Country singer-songwriter Ernest took to the comments to congratulate his “Devil Down” collaborator. “What a year,” wrote the “Flower Shops” singer.
On Teaming Up With Eminem
Last year, Jelly Roll joined Eminem on the latter’s song “Somebody Save Me,” which samples his 2020 hit “Save Me.” Upon its release, the Antioch, Tennessee native raved about “childhood hero” Slim Shady.
“When I bonded out of jail at 17 years old and was sneaking into cyphers and battles in Nashville they would also play the ‘lose yourself’ beat when I came out on stage at the freestyle battles,” he wrote. “I related to every word Eminem wrote. I understand him and felt like he understood me, which was rare cause I spent most of my life feeling misunderstood.”
Not long ago, Jelly shocked and delighted the May 18 crowd at Detroit’s Ford Field when he brought the “Without Me” rapper, 52, onstage for a duet of his Oscar-winning hit “Lose Yourself.”
“If you can’t tell, that was a childhood dream come f—ing true, Detroit,” exclaimed the CMA Award-winning artist. “This is the greatest show I’ve ever had in my f—ing life.”
Featured image by Tammie Arroyo/AFF-USA/Shutterstock
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