Jelly Roll Reflects on His Troubled Past and Seeks Forgiveness from Victims of His Armed Robbery

Grammy-nominated singer and rapper Jelly Roll isn’t just a powerful force within the music industry; he’s also committed to rising above his past and evolving.

During a recent appearance on Jay Shetty’s “On Purpose” podcast, Jelly Roll got candid about his journey and reflected on his troubled past as a young adult that landed him behind bars. Looking back on the years, the artist spoke on his arrest for armed robbery, which occurred when he was 15 years old. Since then, Jelly Roll has taken some accountability and is looking for forgiveness from the victims.

“I really want to have a conversation with them,” he began. “I’ve thought about reaching out. This has been 24 years ago now. And I just don’t know how that would even start — you know, how I would go about it — because sometimes I wonder if they might have even seen me in passing or are aware of my success.”

He continued, “I would just ask them to understand, I would ask them to just, one, forgive me, because there’s no excuse in that. The first accountability is, no matter how old I was, I had no business taking from anybody. Just the entitlement that I had, this, the world owed me enough that I could come take your stuff.”

Additionally, like many other individuals come to realize, Jelly Roll admitted to having a lack of logic when making his past decisions at such a young age.

“I don’t know what I was even trying to be when I look back now,” Jelly Roll stated. “This is how I know I was 15 because the more when I try to make logic of it, I can’t. There was no logic to what I did. It made absolutely no sense. And I learned so much from it and the way that I interact with people.”

Despite his troubled past, Jelly Roll has made significant strides in his career as a musician. He has used his life experiences to launch him into success and give him a sense of purpose.

“I wouldn’t be the man I am today if it wasn’t for what I went through. I think it empowered me. I think it gave me my voice,” he previously said. “It taught me a lot about overcoming. It taught me a lot about changing and the ability to change.”