One of the more honorable traits Jelly Roll leads with is his drive to speak up for the voiceless. Recently, he sits down with Kelleigh Bannen for Today's Country Radio for Apple Music. There, he promotes his new album Beautifully Broken, with potential to be the number one album in the country. Naturally, the pair dive into the album proper and discuss one song in particular, Past Yesterday. The red hot country star pens this song with a team of other songwriters to tell the story of a young girl who was sexually assaulted. His wife Bunnie XO vouches for it especially, when she previews it on TikTok.
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Now, Jelly Roll admits that the song stems from his wife's story, hoping to reach others hurt by the trauma. "My wife, she never has talked about it publicly and she is now a little bit because of the song, but I knew that that was my wife's story, and I've heard so many girls in my meet and greet lines that have the same story. I know so many women whose story was somehow truly affected, especially women that come from sex industry work... I always felt the need to tell it but I didn't know how," he explains.
Jelly Roll Takes Inspiration From His Wife for Song on His New Album
Jelly Roll goes on to explain what he hopes to accomplish with this song and how it can help. "Songs like 'Past Yesterday' are even deeper than drug addiction... I think about the few women I've met who are workaholics, who've never touched a drug, but because what they went through as a child, it molded them into this way," he says. "This song gives them a moment to deal with that again. For these ladies who never touched a drug but they felt the pain of being abused identify with the song."
Ultimately, he's happy to make songs where everyone, men included, can find the strength and courage to tell their stories. "These women strong enough to name their accusers... you know what's been really eye-opening for me too? And not that I did not mean to represent them properly, and I'm glad they're identifying with it, is how many men have been brave enough to tell their stories," Jelly Roll says. "Dude. I'm like, whoa, the amount of men I've seen who have stood up to go, 'Hey, man, I've never really talked about this, but I was touched whenever I was a child.' Do you know what I mean? It's been overwhelming the response."
