Jelly Roll says 16-year-old daughter is ‘so much smarter’ than he was at the age he was arrested

Jelly Roll is a proud girl dad.

In a recent interview, the country music star opened up about the close bond he shares with his 16-year-old daughter, Bailee, and explained why she’s “so much smarter” than he was at her age.

Recalling a recent conversation he had with his daughter, Jelly Roll told People magazine, “[I said], ‘I don’t judge you based on what you do. I judge you based on what I know you’re capable of. You’re so much smarter than I was at 16. You’re so much better, so much more emotionally intelligent. You can read a room so much better. So don’t try to talk your way out of getting in trouble, Miss Sassy, by weaponizing my past.’”

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Jelly Roll said his 16-year-old daughter, Bailee, is “so much smarter” than he was at her age.  (Jason Kempin/Getty Images)

The country star said Bailee is “totally ahead” of where he was at her age. 

“When I look at what she does that I consider horrible, I look back at what I was doing at 16, and I’m like, ‘Oh man…’ When I’m hard on her about stuff or a little pushy, she knows it’s from love,” he said.

The “Save Me” singer has been open about his past legal troubles and battle with addiction. 

During a 2023 interview with Billboard, Jelly Roll, whose full name is Jason Bradley DeFord, told the outlet that he was arrested when he was 16 and charged as an adult with aggravated robbery and possession with intent to sell. 

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He served over a year in prison and seven years of probation.

Jelly Roll is also dad to 8-year-old son, Noah.  (Jason Kempin)

“I never want to overlook the fact that it was a heinous crime,” Jelly Roll told Billboard. 

He continued,”This is a grown man looking back at a 16-year-old kid that made the worst decision that he could have made in life and people could have got hurt and, by the grace of God, thankfully, nobody did.”

Jelly Roll, who is also dad to 8-year-old son Noah, and wife Bunnie Xo have had full custody of Bailee since 2017.

“She’s a really hammered down kid,” he told the People. “She’s been in the same public school district for 10 years and had the same friends since me and Bunnie have had custody of her. I think a lot of that has helped.”

Jelly Roll previously opened up about how the birth of daughter changed his life.  ( Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for Nickelodeon)

In October, Jelly Roll opened up about how the birth of his daughter was the catalyst for wanting to change his life. 

The country music star decided to make a change “as soon as she was born” after he found himself “sitting in a jail cell, having $17 of honeybuns and potato chips to [his] name.”

“I own one outfit, the one that was in the jail, and here I am responsible for a child,” Jelly Roll said during an appearance on “Sunday TODAY with Willie Geist.” “I mean, I was the lowest common denominator in life, you know? I mean, I was scum of the Earth. I was a crack dealer. I was a horrible, horrible human. And I was like, ‘I’ve got to figure this out.'”

Earlier this year, he detailed the moment he found out Bailee was born from behind bars and how it changed the trajectory of his life. 

“I was incarcerated as a juvenile for some horrible decisions and I ended up in kind of that rotating door of the system for like a decade,” he told guest host Martin Short during an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” in June. “I had a daughter, and it changed my entire life, man. It was almost like the Damascus Road experience where Saul turned to Paul for me.”

The country star was incarcerated as a teenager for various crimes.  (Mat Hayward/Getty Images for Jelly Roll)

“I was incarcerated, and they knocked on my door and told me she was born. And I just wept. It’s the first time I’d cried, and I can’t quit crying now,” Jelly Roll joked. “Now I cry if I just see a squirrel in the street. I’m like, ‘The little squirrel!’ Spent 30 years not crying, and now I can’t stop.”

During an interview with Fox News Digital last year, he shared that his troubled past and his ability to overcome it had a lasting impact on him.

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“I wouldn’t be the man I am today if it wasn’t for what I went through. I think it empowered me. I think it gave me my voice,” he said at the 2023 CMAs. “It taught me a lot about overcoming. It taught me a lot about changing and the ability to change. 

He continued, “I was a horrible human for decades, and to just be able to turn that around and give a message in the music and help people… and just try to give back as much as I can in every way I can is very indicative of where I came from and how important it is to me to always reach back.”

Fox News Digital’s Ashley Hume and Lauryn Overhultz contributed to this post.