Jelly Roll Talks Jesus (Video)
Note: you can watch video by clicking here. (Our apologies; we’re having some technical issues with embedding videos.)
I recently had the opportunity to interview the recording artist Jelly Roll, a talented musician who dishes out an amazing hybrid of rap, country, and rock, and who, in the secular music industry, has charted exceedingly well on Billboard.
(And just a heads up about our interview; the video comes in a little after our conversation had already got going — but, rest assured, our conversation about faith and Jesus is still intact with some great material.)
You can view video by clicking here.
Allow me to say this about Jelly Roll: he is a nice, authentic person, and he will tell you how he feels honestly. I wish more people could be like that. He loves his fans and treated my crew and everybody at the hotel in Nashville with courtesy and respect. He had Alexander King, The Hatfield Bloodline, and I4NI as his support bands (all local). He packed the house with people wrapped around the venue waiting in line and staying through the whole show with the temperature in the building being comfortably in the 90s (or higher). He was backed by a full band with a phenomenal DJ by the name of Highlight.
I asked my friend Richard Underwood (pictured right with Jelly Roll), who is a big fan of Jelly Roll (and, at 32, the show was his very first observation of a live concert) what he thought: “I really enjoyed Jelly Roll’s show. He showed his diversity not only as a rapper but that he could sing as well. Even though it was extremely hot, it was well worth it to see him do what he loves.”
As an artist with his roots in rap, Jelly Roll can also sing very well. He performed “Folsom Prison Blues” by Johnny Cash and “Can’t You See” by Marshall Tucker Band during his set along with his signature rap songs that had the crowd in the palm of his hands. He can easily do a crossover album if he so pleases, and he is modern music’s answer to the great outlaw country music of yesteryear — i.e. Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, and Willie Nelson.
The first part of our conversation he discusses how having children has influenced his songwriting process and his life as an artist, and then we talk a little about Jesus and spirituality.
(And part of our goal here at Rocking God’s House is to engage secular culture and secular recording artists with sincere conversations about faith, whether or not they agree 100% with what we believe or we agree 100% with what they believe. Our goal is to listen well and have a constructive dialogue.)
Jelly Roll is a very intelligent, funny, and insightful human being — not to mention an A+++ performer. You can learn more about him at his official site. (And the picture above is for Jelly Roll’s upcoming July 31 show in Columbia, TN.)
