Where does Jelly Roll stand?
He claims to be too much of a “dumb redneck” (his words, not ours) to know just yet.
Where others used the Grammy Awards to condemn ICE’s siege against American communities, he took a rain check.
He’s going to speak out, he promises. Just … not today.
Nothing to say about ICE laying siege to American cities?
On Sunday, February 1, Jason Bradley DeFord — best known as Jelly Roll, professionally — took home the award for Best Contemporary Country Album at the Grammy Awards.
After receiving his accolades for Beautifully Broken, a Rolling Stone reporter asked him if he would like to speak out on everything that’s happening in America right now.
Unlike Billie Eilish, Bad Bunny, and even DeFord’s own collaboration partner, Shaboozey, he had a different answer.
DeFord said that people shouldn’t “care to hear my opinion.”
He went on to characterize: “You know, I’m a dumb redneck. I haven’t watched enough.”
According to DeFord, he isn’t very political and has been sort of detatched from politics.
This isn’t a recent development. He noted that he has tone 18 months without a phone, has taken breaks from social media, and and feels “disconnected” from current events.
“I hate to be the artist aesthetic, aloof, but I’ve become so disconnected from what’s happening,” DeFord claimed.
He noted: “I grew up in a house insane pandemonium.”
DeFord added: “I didn’t even know politics were f–king real until I was in my mid-twenties in jail.”
‘Everybody’s going to hear exactly what I have to say about it’
“When you grow up in a drug addict household, do you think we have common calls about what’s happening in world politics?” DeFord asked.
He added: “We’re just trying to find a way to survive, man, you know?”
However, DeFord vowed that he will have “a lot to say” and will share this message “in the next week.”
He promised: “Everybody’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. So I look forward to it.”
That will certainly be interesting, one way or the other.
Just to put a few things into perspective, DeFord has not exactly lived an apolitical existence.
For one thing, as we have linked above, he previously testified before Congress. His testimony regarded fentanyl use.
That was arguably non-partisan.
However, in 2024, he personally met Donald Trump at a UFC match. That isn’t non-partisan.
It is difficult to understand how someone who testified before Congress and personally met America’s current mad king claims to be detached from politics.
Most people cannot afford to be ‘apolitical’ because it impacts their lives and livelihoods
To be clear, we are not accusing DeFord of lying about his feeling of detachment.
It is tragically common for people to claim to be apolitical or disinterested in politics or whatever. Sure, some of them are lying (famously, conservative men claiming to be moderates on dating apps so that they can get laid), but most sincerely believe it when they say it.
That doesn’t make it true. What it actually means is that these individuals feel insulated — normally by money — from life-or-death political realities.
Will DeFord used his speech and platform to speak about his beliefs as a Christian and to invite others to worship his God with him. So he felt prepared to say that much, but not to address our current horrors.
When he does speak up, will he have good things to say?
That would be nice. Many people are speaking to condemn Trump’s forces. But we don’t know. And his decision to delay makes people worry that they’ll be disappointed when he weighs in.