Jelly Roll may be a sudden Nashville sensation, up for five CMAs Wednesday night, including New Artist of the Year — but the 39 year-old began his recording career as a rapper more than two decades ago.
Jelly Roll may be nominated for New Artist of the Year at the 2023 Country Music Association Awards — one of five awards he’s up for Wednesday night at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena — but he’s hardly fresh off the farm.
In fact, the Antioch, Tennessee native, behind hits such as “Need a Favor” and current single “Save Me,” started his recording career as a rapper with the hip-hop group SNO, back in 2011 — long before making his country debut with the chart-topping “Son of a Sinner” in 2022.
So really, the only thing “new” about the artist born Jason DeFord is his genre of choice.
“There’s something poetic about a 39-year old man with a 300-song release catalog being nominated for the CMA New Artist award,” Jelly Roll told The Post on a break from award show rehearsals. “It encapsulates my feelings this week, whether I win it or not.”
The music biz vet is the second most-nominated artist on Music City’s biggest night, trailing only Lainey Wilson — “My dance partner at country radio right now,” Jelly Roll points out — with whom he’s up for Musical Event of the Year, for “Save Me.”
What’s more, the dude with the country music tradition-bucking tattooed face is also opening the festivities — singing Single of the Year nominee “Need a Favor.
