Jelly Roll wants to ask for forgiveness from armed robbery victims: 'There is no logic to what I did'

Even as his star continues to rise, Jelly Roll knows he still has a lot of work to do mentally, physically and spiritually.

On Jay Shetty's “On Purpose” podcast, the Grammy-nominated singer looked back on his arrests, including one for armed robbery when he was 15, and hoped his victims would forgive him.

“I really want to have a conversation with them. I've been thinking about getting in touch. That was 24 years ago now. And I just don't know how to even begin – you know, how I would go about it – because sometimes I wonder if maybe they've even seen me in passing or are aware of my success,” Jelly Roll said, adding They are on his “reparations list.”

“I would just ask them to understand, I would just ask them to forgive me because there is no excuse for this. The first responsibility is, no matter how old I was, I had no business taking anything away from anyone. Just the entitlement that I had, the world owed me enough that I could come and get your things.

Jelly Roll said he hopes the victims of his armed robbery forgive him. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

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“When I look back now, I don’t even know what I wanted to be,” said the 39-year-old. “That's how I know I was 15, because the more I try to make sense of it, the more I can't. There was no logic to what I did. It made absolutely no sense. And I learned so much from the way I interact with people.

Jelly Roll also said he hoped victims would see how much he had changed and that “money doesn't create character, it reveals it.”

The “Save Me” singer was first sent to juvenile detention at age 13 and has been in and out of prison for years.

Reflecting on his experiences behind bars as a teenager, he said: “I missed high school. I missed any kind of normal socializing, everything that would happen as an adult, what would develop in these areas. And I developed in a room. And, by the way, I committed a crime that deserved this, but I developed in a room with white stone walls, a steel chest of drawers and a steel bunk and a cell 6 feet tall, 6 feet wide and 8 feet long. When I grew up, I had to sleep with my legs drawn up. Couldn't fully expand, you know. I will never forget when I was 17 and realized that I had grown so tall that I could no longer fit in the bunk.

Recalling his incarceration as a teenager, Jelly Roll said he missed high school and “any kind of normal socializing.” (WWE/Getty Images)

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Jelly Roll, born Jason DeFord, credits these experiences with making him the person he is now.

“Without what I went through, I wouldn't be the man I am today. I think it gave me strength. I think it gave me my voice,” he told Fox News Digital at the 2023 CMAs. “It taught me a lot about overcoming. It taught me a lot about change and the ability to change.”

“If I try to make logic out of it, I can’t. There was no logic to what I did. It made absolutely no sense.”

– Jelly Roll

“I was a terrible person for decades, and for me to be able to just turn that around and use music to get a message across and help people… and just try to give back as much as I can in any way I can is very indicative of where I'm at.” “I come here and how important it is to me to always come back.”

During his time in prison, he earned his GED and enrolled in Alcoholics Anonymous and Drug Addicts Anonymous. He also found a Christian program called Jericho that connected him more deeply to his faith.

Although Jelly Roll said he was “a terrible person for decades,” he turned his life around in prison through various programs, including a Christian program that helped him connect with his faith. (Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Global Citizen)

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In an interview with Fox News Digital ahead of the 2024 CMT Music Awards, Jelly Roll said his belief in God was his “driving force.”

“A lot of it made me believe that it would work out for me,” he said. “Could you imagine being a 37-year-old unsuccessful musician telling people this is your job?”

The Tennessee native rose to fame in 2021 with his album “Ballad of the Broken,” but worked for years to break out in the music world, first in hip-hop, then in country.

“It wasn’t something I did on the side. It was just my job. And I just always had faith that God had a greater purpose for what I was trying to do,” Jelly Roll said.

Jelly Roll told Fox News Digital, “I just always had faith that God had a greater purpose for what I was trying to do.” (Cindy Ord)

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In his acceptance speech at the 2024 iHeartRadio Awards, he talked about how faith guided his journey.

“What does it mean when a guy like me gets the opportunity to be the new Pop Artist of the Year at the iHeartRadio Awards? “That means God will use the most unlikely messenger with the greatest message every time,” he said.

Jelly Roll uses his status as a public figure to speak out on the issues that have influenced his life.

In January, he testified before Congress about the fentanyl crisis, highlighting his past as a drug dealer.

“I was part of the problem. I stand here now as a man who wants to be part of the solution,” he testified.

WATCH: JELLY ROLL URGES CONGRESS TO ACT AGAINST FENTANYL WITH IMPRESSIVE AWARDS

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He explained that it was not “a victimless crime” and that the mother of his 16-year-old daughter was a drug addict.

“Every day in my household I can look into the eyes of a victim of drug effects. Every single day. And every single day I have to ask myself and my wife whether today will be the day I have to tell my daughter that her mother has been added to the national statistics.”

“I just always had faith that God had a greater purpose for what I was trying to do.”

– Jelly Roll

He called on Congress to be “proactive, not reactive” and pass the FEND Off Fentanyl Act, a law that would target Chinese chemical suppliers and Mexican drug cartels that traffic in fentanyl.

Jelly Roll also opened the Youth Campus for Empowerment at the Davidson County Juvenile Justice Center in Nashville, where he was once incarcerated. During the groundbreaking, he told local Fox affiliate WZTV that he hoped to improve conditions to help other struggling youth.

Jelly Roll helped open a new center to support troubled youth at the Davidson County Juvenile Justice Center in Nashville, where he was once incarcerated. (Getty Images)

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“Get rid of things that make you feel like a caged animal,” he told the outlet, according to People. “Make these children feel loved and give them a chance in life. Many of these children are victims of their circumstances. This is a really great opportunity to change things.”

He also donated a recording studio to the center in May.

During his interview on On Purpose, Jelly Roll said he had a “victim mentality” before making a change in his life.

“I was desperate and delusional. I was a desperate, delusional dreamer, and desperation got me into big trouble,” he said. “I encourage delusional dreamers. Be a delusional dreamer. Just don't be a desperate delusional dreamer, you know. But I definitely consciously made really terrible decisions. I was just so angry. I was just so angry at life. Everything.” That wasn’t right, that was everyone’s fault, but I had such a victim mentality.

Jelly Roll said he forgave himself by taking responsibility for his past actions. (Ayisha Collins/FilmMagic/Getty Images)

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“I have not taken any responsibility for anything in my life. I was the kid who, when asked what happened, would immediately start blaming everything but myself. …And it took me years to break that, like years of work, solid work, um.” It also took years of work to even forgive the child.