Jelly Roll breaks ground at Nashville’s Youth Campus for Empowerment after celebrating his ’14th, 15th, and 16th birthdays’ incarcerated there

Jelly Roll took time out of his busy tour schedule last Thursday to help with the construction of the future Youth Campus for Empowerment in Nashville, TN, after serving years in the former Davidson County Juvenile Justice Center.

“I celebrated my 14th, 15th and 16th birthdays there. The only reason I wasn’t there on my 17th was because I was charged as an adult,” the 39-year-old ex-con admitted during his speech – according to Fox 17 WZTV Nashville.

“They are focused on rehabilitating children instead of treating them like criminals and disciplining young men who just need love, connection and understanding. I love their vision for the future. Get rid of the stuff that makes you feel like a caged animal. Make these kids feel loved and give them a chance at life. A lot of these kids are victims of their circumstances. This is a really great opportunity to change things.”

Jelly Roll (born Jason Bradley DeFord) has been in prison a whopping 40 times. The first time was at age 13 for marijuana possession. At 16, he was locked up for aggravated robbery. He was then incarcerated for other offenses, including violating probation, failing a drug test, and possessing crack cocaine with intent to resell.

The two-time Grammy nominee vowed to turn his life around after the birth of his 16-year-old daughter Bailee Ann DeFord. He is also the father of a 7-year-old son, Noah Buddy DeFord.

The 39-year-old ex-con confessed during his speech: ‘I celebrated my 14th, 15th and 16th birthday there. The only reason I wasn’t there on my 17th was because I was charged as an adult.’

“I’m an example that people can change and things can change,” Jelly Roll said on stage.

“I hope you understand that this is a great sign of money well spent, finally, money well spent. I don’t know if you know, but I thank you all. And anyone who thinks that it isn’t, I encourage you to go to the juvenile detention center that we have now and see how those young men are treated and look at those walls. I mean, that thing hadn’t changed in 30 years except for the paint.

“I know personally! I was there! So it’s really cool to see the change happening. I’m going to be out of your way because I have a show tonight, but I’m so happy to be here. And I will always support trying to help kids be treated like kids, no matter what crime they commit. We need to focus on love and rehabilitation.”

The former drug dealer worked with the city to fund the new 35-acre campus, which will feature family amenities, a 24-hour assessment center, meeting/courtrooms, and a secure exchange facility. The campus is scheduled to be completed in 2027, under the leadership of Judge Sheila Calloway.

In 2022, Jelly Roll donated a recording studio for incarcerated musicians to the Genesee County Jail in Flint, Michigan. It was completed this past May.

The Liar singer, who spent just 20 days in his Nashville home this year, is scheduled to perform again on August 17 at The Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett, New York.

Jelly Roll, who has 22.2 million monthly listeners on Spotify, has a few more shows before kicking off his 67-date The Beautifully Broken Tour on August 27 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, UT.

Jelly Roll (born Jason Bradley DeFord) added: “They’re focused on rehabilitating kids instead of treating them like criminals and disciplining young men who just need love, connection and understanding. I love their vision for the future.”

The two-time Grammy nominee continued, “Get rid of the stuff that makes you feel like a caged animal. Make these kids feel loved and give them a chance at life. A lot of these kids are victims of their circumstances. This is a really great opportunity to change things.”

Jelly Roll has been incarcerated a whopping 40 times. The first time was at age 13 for marijuana possession. At 16, he was locked up for aggravated robbery. He had other offenses after that, including violating probation, failing a drug test and possessing crack cocaine with intent to resell (pictured with Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell).

The former drug dealer vowed to turn his life around after the birth of his 16-year-old daughter Bailee Ann DeFord, and he is also the father of a seven-year-old son Noah Buddy DeFord (pictured July 13)

Jelly Roll said on stage: ‘I’m an example that people can change and things can change’

The Liar singer continued, “I hope you understand that this is a big sign of money well spent, finally, money well spent. I don’t know if you know, but I thank you all. And anyone who thinks that it’s not, I encourage you to go to the juvenile detention center that we have now and see how those young men are being treated and look at those walls. I mean, that thing hasn’t changed in 30 years except for the paint. I know personally! I was there!”

Jelly Roll partnered with the city to fund the new 14-acre campus — featuring family services, a 24-hour assessment center, meeting/courtrooms and a secure exchange facility — expected to be completed in 2027, under the leadership of Judge Sheila Calloway.

The SummerSlam star, who spent just 20 days in his Nashville home this year, is scheduled to perform at The Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett, New York on August 17 (pictured July 19)

The SummerSlam star will compete for two Moonperson trophies — best collaboration (with Jessie Murph) and best charity video (with Joyner Lucas) — at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards, airing Sept. 11 from UBS Arena in Elmont, New York.

Jelly Roll, who once weighed more than 500 pounds, has lost 70 pounds in five months and plans to run a 5K before Thanksgiving.

The Lonely Road singer is also undergoing IVF fertility treatment with his wife Alyssa “Bunnie XO” DeFord, whom he has been with since 2016. He has been married for seven years and is now a porn star and podcaster.