Jelly Roll Might Have Just Given His Most Powerful Speech Yet

Jelly Roll has earned a reputation for delivering powerful speeches intended to offer hope to those who are struggling, or even at the lowest points in their lives.

After a rafter-raising 2023 CMA Awards acceptance speech so powerful that it went viral on social media, Jelly got the nickname “Preacher Roll,” and he’s since lived up to that title as he makes stops at jails and rehab facilities across the country to deliver his message of the possibility of positive change.

But the speech Jelly gave at Riverbend, a maximum security prison in his home city of Nashville, might be his most powerful yet.

The singer shared a portion of his speech on social media, which shows him onstage with what looks like might be some of a full band behind him. It seems that there was a performance to Jelly’s visit to Riverbend, but the highlight of the singer’s visit came from his words.

“Listen to what I’m fixing to tell you right now. Who you were is not who you are and who you are right now is not even a tenth of the man you can actually f–king be,” Jelly told the crowd, who erupted in applause in response.

“You can be thinking the wildest thing right now but whatever you’re dreaming of could be too small still,” Jelly continued. “I encourage you to dream bigger when you go back to your cell tonight.

“When they close that door after last count time, I encourage you to start visualizing your future,” he challenged the men in the audience. “And believing that things can change for you in a way you never thought it would change for you. That you don’t have to go back to that bulls–t anymore…We don’t have to spend the rest of our life suffering, poor and f–king addicted and struggling anymore. Today is the day to break the chains, gentlemen.”

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Most of Jelly’s fans already know about his background of incarceration as a teen and young adult. He continues to use his story to inspire people currently in jails and prisons, and at Riverbend, he used his personal experience as a positive example.

“I’m here to tell you it’s possible. I never dreamed this would be my story,” the singer said. “I love y’all, man. I love y’all. I believe in you.”