Jelly Roll says he 'didn't know politics were real' until his mid-20s after being questioned about ICE's actions
Jelly Roll has vowed to speak out about the current state of the US 'in the most loud and clear way' after admitting he didn't know what politics was until his mid-20s.
The rapper made the pledge while being interviewed backstage at the Grammys on Sunday night (February 1).
Jelly Roll - real name Jason DeFord - scooped a total of three Grammys. His track 'Amen' with Shaboozey won best country duo/group performance, his collaboration with Brandon Lake 'Hard Fought Hallelujah' won best contemporary Christian music performance/song, and his tenth studio album Beautifully Broken won best contemporary country album.
While the star-studded evening was filled with celebration, a plethora of celebrities took the Grammys as an opportunity to call out immigration crackdowns in the US.
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Jelly Roll was not one of them - although his collaborator Shaboozey was.
Giving a nod to immigrants while collecting the Grammy for 'Amen', he said: “Immigrants built this country, literally. So, this is for them, for all children of immigrants… Thank you for bringing your culture, your music, your stories, and your traditions here. You give America color.”
Backstage, Jelly Roll was asked if he wanted to comment on 'what's going on in the country right now,' as Forbes reported.
Responding with 'not really,' Jelly Roll quickly expanded: "I like talking about this stuff when people care to hear my opinion, but I can tell you that people shouldn’t care to hear my opinion.
“I’m a dumb redneck. I didn’t have a phone for 18 months. I’ve had a phone for four months and it doesn’t have social media."
He continued: "I grew up in a house of insane pandemonium, like I didn’t even know what politics were f**king real until I was in my mid-20s in jail, that’s how disconnected [I was].
"When you grow up in a drug addict household, you think we had common calls about what’s happening in world politics? We're just trying to find a way to survive, man.”
The Nashville, Tennessee, native has more than 40 run-ins with the law since the age of 14 for charges including aggravated robbery and drug dealing, as per Biography.
He concluded: “I have a lot of say about it and I’m going to in the next week, and everyone’s going to hear exactly what I have to say about it in the most loud and clear way I’ve ever spoken in my life. I look forward to it.”
Elsewhere on the night, Billie Eilish, who won song of the year for 'Wildflower' with brother Finneas, certainly made her thoughts clear.
"No one is illegal on stolen land. And yeah, it’s just really hard to know what to say and what to do right now," she said.
"I feel really hopeful in this room and I feel like we just need to keep fighting and speaking up and protesting and our voices really do matter and the people matter and erm, F**k ICE.”
Meanwhile, Puerto Rican musician Bad Bunny, who refused to tour the US due to ICE fears but is headlining the Super Bowl on Sunday (February 8), also spoke out while collecting his Best Música Urbana Album award.
“Before I say thanks to God, I’m gonna say ‘ICE OUT,'" he said, in part. "We’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens, we’re Americans."
It comes as the government enters its third day of partial shutdown over Homeland Security (DHS) reforms, as Democrats call for ICE agents to wear bodycams at all times and to stop the use of face masks.
Protests surrounding ICE and President Donald Trump's intense focus on immigration raids have intensified in recent weeks, after two people - ICU nurse Alex Pretti and mom Renee Nicole Good - were shot dead by ICE agents in separate incidents in Minneapolis last month.
Topics: Politics, US News, Celebrity, Grammys, Social Media, Music
Ellie Kemp