What is Jelly Roll’s weight?
Introduction
Jelly Roll might have made a name for himself as a country rap superstar with a quick style and a big bout of brutal honesty, but the first thing most people are going to notice is his size.
Because Jelly Roll is a whole lotta man.
And according to his mom, he always has been.
Rapper Jelly Roll—whose real name is Jason DeFord—earned the tasty moniker as a baby, thanks to his mother.
She called him Jelly Roll because he was so chubby and cute, and the name stuck.
It might have been a family nickname, but when De Ford hit high school, one of his buddies—a kid that went by the nickname One Armed Clay—resurrected it for the general public.
From that day forward, Jason was known everywhere he went as Jelly Roll.
It’s not something the charismatic entertainer feels bad about, either.
In interviews, he has joked about spending his “life trying to grow into the name. I think I’ve done it.”
The humble and hilarious rap genius might win hearts and sell out shows wherever he goes, but the question some fans keep asking is: how much does Jelly Roll weigh?
So, let’s find out.
Who is Jelly Roll?
Jelly Roll—whose real name is Jason DeFord—is a Nashville, Tennessee, native who hails from Antioch.
Jason’s childhood was pretty rough—much like that of many of the people in the community where he grew up.
DeFord admits that his mom struggled with addiction for the majority of her life, like many who grew up in the middle- and lower-class communities in Antioch.
“No one sees the effects of drug abuse like those people,” he observes. “My mother didn’t have [expletive], nobody had [expletive]. Anyone who did got it from drugs.”
So Jelly Roll sold drugs.
Jason also did “a lot of drugs,” by his own admission.
He took codeine, cough syrup, Xanax, and cocaine, and admits that he doesn’t remember the entire years of his life.
What he does remember is a 12-year stretch of his life where he was in and out of prison.
He also remembers an officer coming to his cell on May 22, 2008, to tell him that he was now the father of a little girl.
He had heard rumors that he’d gotten a girl pregnant the last time he was released from prison, but this was a turning point.
Despite his difficulties, Jason always acknowledges that he had a “great dad.”
And because of that, he wanted to be a great dad.
It was time to turn things around. By some miracle—and a whole lot of hard work—Jelly Roll made his way up in the music world.
What kind of music does DeFord make?
In a nutshell: Jelly Roll creates a blend of country slang, backwoods experience, and lyrically masterful rap.
It started with his 2010 collaboration with Lil Wyte on the track Pop Another Pill.
The video racked up more than 6 million views on YouTube.
Hypnotize Minds snatched Jelly Roll up the following year to release the Year Round album with SNO.
The album featured the hit Come Here White Girl, which XXL would call one of the 10 most memorable white rapper collaborations in history.
Several mixtapes followed before the indie release of The Big Sal Story in October 2012.
Following The Big Sal Story, Jelly Roll collaborated with Haystak, Lil Wyte, Struggle Jennings, and an SNO reunion album.
More albums followed. He also collaborated with iconic rap stars like Tech N9ne and Eminem.
How much does Jelly Roll weigh?
That number seems to change from year to year—as it does with anyone—so let’s start at the beginning.
Jelly Roll explained in a Bobby Bones interview in May of 2022 that he’s always been “fat.”
He was a fat baby, he earned the nickname Jelly Roll from his mother, earned it again in high school, and spent the next decade and a half maintaining its status.
But at his biggest pre-2016, Jason DeFord weighed 450 pounds.
With a diet that consisted of some pretty serious time spent at Waffle House, is it any surprise?
Jelly Roll admitted in an interview that he had eaten at Waffle House more times than he could remember—although he guessed the number of visits would be high in hundreds.
And every time he ate there, he’d have the same thing: the All-Star Breakfast.
For those wondering what an All-Star Breakfast entails, it’s all the things that could help a person get their weight up to the 450-pound mark: scrambled eggs with cheese, hash browns topped with cheese, fried onions, and ham, sausage, and a chocolate chip waffle.
And that’s all in one sitting.
DeFord jokes that he once checked his birth certificate to make sure he wasn’t born in a Waffle House.
This all changed—for the most part—when Waffle House sued Jelly Roll for using its logo in his album artwork.
READ MORE: Who is Jelly Roll’s wife?
Has Jelly Roll lost weight?
Yes—several times.
Following his legal run-in with the Waffle House, DeFord went on a health kick and lost a staggering 180 pounds.
Looking trim and terrific in a 2017 video, he showcased his healthier build with some boxing training videos on YouTube.
Sadly, Jason’s drop from a hefty 450 pounds down to a much healthier 270 pounds wasn’t going to last forever.
In July 2020, he took to YouTube to talk openly with his fans and followers about his weight gain.
He explained that he felt frustrated and ashamed of himself, and committed to getting back on the healthy living bandwagon.
In a video titled I got really fat…again, Jelly Roll explained that after losing 180 pounds, he had gained it all back.
He invited fans to join him on his journey, to help motivate each other, and to get back to a healthier goal weight.
In that first weigh-in, Jelly Roll weighed 478 pounds, and by July 2021, he had lost 60 pounds.
In early 2023, Jason said that he wants to lose more weight as well as exercise regularly.
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