Jelly Roll has been on a roll lately (no pun intended). The artists recently took home the People’s Choice Award for Male Country Artist of the Year. However, Jelly Roll didn’t attend the event to accept the award personally.
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Taking to X, Jelly Roll explained his absence and how thankful he was for the award. The artist had a prior engagement meeting with incarcerated juveniles at a detention center in his hometown.
He explained, “I’m sorry I wasn’t there. Here’s the truth: I’m actually standing in the juvenile courthouse right now, I just walked out of the juvenile facility. We partnered with the Beat of Life to bring a music program to the kids.”
Jelly Roll promised he would meet with the kids there, and he wanted to stick by his word. When the People’s Choice Awards was scheduled for that day, he knew he wouldn’t be able to make it.
He continued, “This has been on my calendar for a long time. I promised these kids I was coming — I know whenever I was a kid in here I got let down a lot. I didn’t want to be one of the people letting these kids down — I had to honor my word.”
Jelly Roll hopes his fans understand. He said, “I hate I wasn’t there, but don’t take me not being there as a sign of anything other than love and respect and me trying to do better for my community, baby.”
Jelly Roll Talks Beats of Life
Jelly Roll is teasing a collab between him and the kids. Through Beats of Life, Jelly Roll aims to introduce music to incarcerated juveniles at the detention center with hopes it changes their lives the same way it changed his.
He continued, “Anyways, these kids wrote some big songs today, man. We’re going to work something out where y’all can start hearing what we’re working on in this juvenile, but the Jelly studio is running.”
Jelly Roll has largely stuck by his message of using his platform to try to help others. In a Facebook post, he detailed how his music is impacting others.
He wrote, “My favorite part of making music is knowing that it is helping people deal with real s–t in their life. wish we could respond to every message we get. wish y’all could see every message and the impacts. From people who the music helped through the death of a loved on , or the ones who overcame an addiction, or the ones who dont feel alone when they listen to it , the ones who have kept from committing suicide by the music. “
He continued, “The ones that party to it and escape the drama of their every days lives. The ones who are trying to be better people, change their ways. the ones who deal with a bulls–t job everyday and bang this real s–t to help get them through it… the lonely, the lost, the underdogs, the sinners, the losers, the ones who was told and believed they would never be SHIT! I️ KNOW EXACTLY WHO THE F–K WE MAKE MUSIC FOR!”
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[Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for The Recording Academy]
