Jelly Roll on his three 2023 CMT Music Award noms: 'A nomination calls for a celebration'

A decade ago, suburban Nashville-based, rap-to-country crossover star Jelly Roll played alongside DMX at the Insane Clown Posse's Gathering of the Juggalos in Cave-In-Rock, Illinois. On Apr. 2, he'll be thrice-nominated at the CMT Music Awards at Austin, Texas' Moody Center — and walking the red carpet with Kelsea Ballerini.

Lainey Wilson leads the field with four nominations, including the highly coveted "Video of the Year," "Female Video of the Year," "Collaborative Video of the Year" and "CMT Performance of the Year" The event will be aired on CBS and available to stream live and on-demand on Paramount+ from 7-10:00 p.m. central time.

"My wife [content creator and podcast host Bunnie XO] and I are going to look so fresh on the carpet. I've never been nominated for anything. I'm just a kid from Antioch, Tennessee, and now I'm talking to a stylist and getting fitted for fancy clothing," said the 37-year-old artist born Jason Deford to The Tennessean.

"This is crazy, right? But I still don't feel like I have a body of work that can stand up next to my fellow nominees. Seeing my name next to artists like Luke Combs, Cole Swindell and Morgan Wallen for 'Male Video of the Year,' 'Breakthrough Male Video of the Year' and 'Digital First Video of the Year' is wild."

The singer-songwriter describes "Son of A Sinner," the unexpected country radio hit for which he is nominated, as indicative of the personal art that he creates.

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"My album (2021's 'Ballad Of The Broken') isn't filled with songs that I was pitched [on Music Row] that I liked and chose from," he said. "Therefore, it's more gratifying to have success with them right now. I'm elated about that."

Jelly Roll's been an avid watcher of CMT since childhood and is now routinely featured on the network and the channel's digital shorts. Alongside Kane Brown, Cody Johnson and Wilson he's now one of the four most-nominated artists for the channel's awards program.

"I told my homie that I was absolutely sure that I wouldn't be nominated. Then I realized I was nominated for fan-voted awards. At that point I was like, 'Oh man, I might have a chance at winning!' For a long time, people have been wanting to see an underdog like myself pull something off. However, even if me and my fans don't win, we've already won — a nomination calls for a celebration."

Jelly Roll's passion for his fans is derived from the fact that for 13 years since being a 24-year-old father of a newborn daughter and freshly released from multiple stints during a drug-addicted and law-breaking youth in Davidson County's juvenile detention centers and corrections facilities, he has been bolstered by a passionate fanbase of millions who share his life circumstances.

About Jelly Roll's connection to those fans who now have an opportunity to vote for "Son of A Sinner" daily until the beginning of April, Jon Loba — the executive vice president of his Nashville-based distributor — noted at a January No. 1 party for "Son of A Sinner" at Broadcast Music Inc.'s Music Row offices the following:

"Every night you're saving lives and changing lives. That vulnerability that you're so willing to share with everybody is so important and makes you who you are."

Even if Jelly Roll wins no CMT Music Awards, he's still a winner in the eyes and hearts of the country music community. On May 5, he starts his 44-date, nationwide "Backroad Baptism" tour. He'll have his fellow CMT Music Award nominees Elle King and recent Grammy winner Ashley McBryde as two of the six acts serving as his openers.

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"When I asked Ashley if she would tour with me, it was like I was a kid nervously asking another kid if they'd come to my birthday party," Jelly Roll joked. "Even after she won her Grammy, she still kept her promise."

King is excited about seeting legendary Memphis hip-hop act Three Six Mafia, another one of his opening acts.

Jelly Roll used opening slots to honor those who paved his path and offered him opportunities when he was a developing independent artist, such as Struggle Jennings, Merkules and Yelawolf.

Jelly Roll hopes to bridge what he describes as an "anti-establishment" mentality that independent hip-hop artists have when contemplating gaining entry into mainstream country music.

"I want to use the example of my success to orchestrate deals and relationships between artists and labels."

Up next for Jelly Roll? Recently, he's been seen on social media in the company of Bristol, Virginia-based band 49 Winchester, "Son of a Sinner" co-writer ERNEST and yes, even Miranda Lambert. ("She's the queen, the absolute best — I have a song I wrote with me, her and Jesse Frasure," he said.)

"My spirit as a person has changed so much recently. I have love and forgiveness in my heart now. I still have so much work to do, but I hope that people see what I've accomplished and realize if I can do it, that it's possible for them, too.

"You can fool the whole world down the pathway of years and get pats on the back as you pass, but your final reward will be heartaches and tears if you've cheated the guy in the glass," the performer said, quoting Dale Wimbrow's 1934 poem "The Guy In The Glass."

"I also have a hot take," Jelly Roll said before taking a long pause.

"Right now, country music has never been more exciting. Of course, there was the outlaw movement of the '70s and '90s rodeo music and the growth and development of acts like Garth Brooks. But as far as being at its most diversely entertaining and interesting? It's right now, and I'm glad to be in the middle of it."

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Jelly Roll celebrates his 2023 CMT Music Award nominations