Jelly Roll concluded his Jimmy Kimmel Live! monologue Thursday night with an emotional message about compassion across political divides.
Many fans of the rapper-turned-country music star, 41, have been surprised this week to hear him aiming numerous jokes at President Donald Trump.
At the Grammy Awards earlier this year, the “Need A Favor” singer declined to answer a question about his politics, saying: “I have a lot to say about it and I’m going to in the next week. And everybody’s going to hear exactly what I have to say in the most loud and clear way I’ve ever spoken in my life. I look forward to it.”
However, the rapper has since kept quiet about his political views — until now.
“A lot of people seem to think these Jimmy Kimmel writers have secretly been pulling the strings and forcing this good old country boy to poke fun at our commander-in-chief,” he said during Thursday’s lengthy monologue.
“But let’s be real about this, y’all: Do you think I would take orders from some sweaty little dork named Josh? No, I was just telling it like it is. And for some reason, that seemed to freak a lot of people out. I guess now that I’ve lost all this weight, folks can finally see I have balls.”
He continued, “It is funny that before this week everybody thought I was MAGA. And now they think I’m some sort of liberal snowflake.”
The musician clarified, “Sure, I lean left on some things, but like most folks I’m pretty down the middle.
“I am a Christian. I am a country music singer. I’m a farmer. I’m a bow hunter. And most of things I eat I prefer to get with a stick and a string. That’s the truth,” he said.
Jelly Roll then addressed his comments at the Grammy Awards, where he said he felt “disconnected” from current events and called himself a “dumb redneck.”
“It was the single greatest moment and greatest honor of my career,” he said of winning three awards that night.
“I got called on that stage. I got handed my award that I’ve been dreaming about since I was a child. And immediately after, I was asked to make what I felt at the time was a political stance. I fumbled my words. Looking back, I don’t necessarily regret asking for more time before I spoke. I wish more people took more time before they spoke. But I do wish I had found the words to express my heart just a little bit sooner. But I was afraid that anything I was going to say was going to be immediately taken as a political statement.”
“And, ironically, by trying so hard not to make a political statement, I became one,” he said. “I spent my entire career trying not to belong to a political party. Partly because until March of this year, I wasn’t even allowed to vote. But now that I have that right, it’s one I plan to exercise this coming November.”
Jelly Roll did not say which party he plans to vote for in November’s midterm elections, but said he wants to represent “those without representation.”
“I try to speak for the unspoken for,” he said. “And that night at the Grammys, I had an opportunity to speak up for people who were scared, hurting, and felt like nobody was speaking for them. I had a microphone and I didn’t use it the right way.”
The singer then got emotional as he spoke about his father. “My daddy always told me it is never too late to do the right thing,” he said. “So I am going to try to do the right thing right now because human dignity isn’t Republican nor Democrat. Compassion isn’t left wing and mercy isn’t right wing. Pain and healing knows no partisanship. Hurting hearts are more important than poll numbers and there are no boundaries or borders for broken families.”
The singer explained that, because his father was a veteran and he has deep respect for those who serve in the military, he will always shake the hand of the U.S. president, regardless of their party or views.
“My father would have been disappointed had I done anything other than that,” he said. “I’m proud that I was able to shake the president of the United States’ hand. I’m also proud that I’m in a country where I can make jokes about him.”
He clarified that “a handshake is not an endorsement” and “a conversation is not an allegiance.” “And a joke is not a political point of view.”
Jelly Roll concluded his monologue with a personal story about his father, a “blue back Democrat,” and his uncle, a “red hat Republican.” “This might be hard for people to understand out there, but they were absolutely best friends,” he recounted, explaining that his father told him there were hundreds of things they did agree on and only a few they didn’t.”
“Politicians and algorithms make an absolute fortune convincing us that the person across the street from us is the reason our life is hard,” Jelly Roll said. “I just want us to remember that the person across the street is a human being before they’re a voter.”
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