Today, Jelly Roll is one of the hottest artists in country music. His trophy case full of People’s Choice Awards and his CMA New Artist of the Year Award are testaments to his current fame. However, that wasn’t always the case. He started as an underground rapper and hustled inside that realm for more than a decade. In a recent interview, he talked about the viral 10-minute freestyle that helped to put him on the map.
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Jelly Roll has enjoyed some viral moments recently. Notably, his fiery CMA Awards acceptance speech has made its rounds on the internet and doubtlessly inspired countless people. Earlier this week, he appeared on the New York Times’ Popcast (Deluxe) podcast. During the conversation, the newly minted country star reflected on the infamous 10-minute freestyle.
Jelly Roll Recalls the Viral Freestyle Video
Jelly Roll couldn’t recall exactly when he recorded the video. However, the original upload on ChadArmesTV notes that it was January 29, 2009.
“I’m wearing this goofy polo shirt because I had just left my probation office. And my dude had just bought a Handycam—Chad Armes who I talk about to this day. We’re still friends. He throws a beat on. What you didn’t see was it was kind of a cypher,” he recalled. “That’s why it wasn’t ten minutes straight.”
In hip-hop, a cypher is where rappers take turns rapping over a beat. Usually, they each take a 16-bar verse before passing it to the next in line. Most of the time, these are freestyle events. However, some rappers prepare lyrics ahead of time.
“There was like five or six of us kind of spittin’ at each other,” he continued. “Dude, we rapped for an hour … like we were in jail still.” Jelly Roll then explained that Armes took the footage home and edited it, the result is the video that fans of the Antioch, Tennessee native’s fans still go back and watch today.
Additionally, he revealed why the video only showed a small portion of their rap session. “At the time, YouTube wouldn’t allow you to upload a clip longer than ten minutes.”
Watch the NSFW freestyle video that started it all below.
Featured Image by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
