Rap, rock, country…what’s next?

Jelly Roll might have only dropped Beautifully Broken around a year ago, but the ‘Need a Favor’ hitmaker is already hard at work on his eagerly anticipated follow-up album.

During a new interview with Miles Adcox for his Human School Podcast, the Tennessee native has hinted that he’s experimenting with a “bold” new sound for his next era.

Adcox begins by hinting that he’s heard some of the unreleased material, with Jelly Roll confirming he’s in the “early stages” of the creative process for his 11th studio record.

He teases, “I hope they follow me, because I’m taking us on a ride. I always, always have been bold when it was time to be bold musically, I thought, and it’s time to be bold”.

When Adcox observes that Jelly appears to be happier and thriving more than ever, the latter responds by confirming, “I think the art will reflect that. The music’s always met me where I was…We’re gonna take a bold swing. I remember when I cut ‘Save Me’…If you listen to my catalogue, it was a wild swing. Like, if you were…a Jelly Roll fan [then], that was a crazy curveball for me to throw. Five years later, if you are currently a Jelly Roll fan – I’m finna throw y’all a curveball”.

Adcox hints, “You threw me one when you first told me about the concept”, potentially suggesting that Jelly’s next record will pivot around a singular idea or notion. Jelly kicked off his career in the rap and hip-hop world, he then pivoted to rock with 2021’s Ballads of the Broken, before plunging himself fully into the country sphere. Two lauded albums later, and he’s one of the biggest names in the genre.

Given the fact that he’s already explored rap, rock and country, we’re wondering if Jelly might be preparing a foray into the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) space. Jelly’s music has been underpinned by faith-filled messaging over the past few years, and he’s regularly spoken about how much his viral CCM collaboration with Brandon Lake – ‘Hard Fought Hallelujah’ – has meant to him.

Elsewhere during his conversation, Jelly sheds light on why he leads a prayer circle before every performance, with the ‘Son of a Sinner’ crooner describing his relationship with spirituality as having originated from reading the New Testament in prison.

The interview, which centred around Jelly’s evolution over the past decade or so, has sparked widespread media interest, primarily because of his revelation that he had an extramarital affair on Bunnie XO. He underlines that they are now stronger than ever, “I wish our story would’ve went in the way that it never had an affair, and I’m in a way glad it happened, but man, I’m proud of who we are today. I truly am”.

He expands, “I was hanging around a bunch of people that were cheating on their wives…When I was doing cocaine, I was hanging around a bunch of people that were doing cocaine. … I used to be proud of long-standing friendships just because they had a number attached to them. Horrible humans. But I would just be proud to say, ‘That dude’s been with me 12 years.’ S****y human!”

It seems like a reference to the belief that you are a combination of your five closest friends, with Jelly stressing that he is careful about who he spends time with now. We’re glad he’s in a better place, with the country titan cementing himself as one of the most impactful artists of this generation, and one that continues to spread a message of hope, positivity and redemption on every stage he stands on.