They say you should never meet your heroes. Well, they never told Jelly Roll, because in a new behind-the-scenes video released Thursday (August 22), the “Save Me” country star details the out-of-body experience he had in June when he flew to Detroit. to meet his hip-hop dog: Eminem.
The five-and-a-half-minute video opens with Jelly on the phone telling someone she's on her way to meet Slim Sandy as she speeds down the freeway with a police escort. In the clip, Jelly explains that his early-morning road trip came after playing two shows at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry the night before, a flurry of back-to-back career peaks that are truly hard to fathom.
“I want to meet Eminem. To some extent you could say we're going from the Grand Ole Opry to meet Eminem,” he says while driving in the back seat of an SUV, stating the obvious, but also possibly talking about his good fortune. He explains that the trip was sparked when Marshall tapped him to sing on a Bob Seger tribute as part of the NBC Live From Detroit: The Concert at Michigan Central special that aired in June with Diana Ross, Jack White, Big Sean, Eminem and more celebrating the reopening of the city's renovated train station.
On the prime-time show, Jelly took the stage with event co-producer Eminem for a duet on Em's 2002 song “Sing For the Moment.”
“Forty-year-old Jason DeFord is losing his mind,” says Jelly, using his birth name. “Because I know for sure 15-year-old Jason DeFord would pass out! This is unreal, it's really great,” he adds, looking out the window and reflecting on this surreal moment. He then breaks down the mechanics of rappers expanding their local or regional fame into larger territories, while recalling his attempt to break into the game more than a decade ago.
“Kids like Eminem were proud to be from Detroit, Michigan because superstars don't come out of Detroit, Michigan,” he says, rehearsing a cappella to Aerosmith's “Dream On,” interspersed with Eminem's song that performed the duet. . “We're in the middle of an insanely historic event.”
Walking into the station and onto the stage for rehearsals, the big moment when the two men finally meet comes about halfway through the video. After a friendly greeting, Jelly admits to Marshall that he's been “a little nervous” all day about their meeting, wondering if the rap god even knows who he is. “Well, I've known you for a minute,” says a low-key Slim Shady.
Later, Jelly says that moment – standing next to Eminem and taking some promo shots – was on the Mount Rushmore of his personal high points, along with meeting Garth Brooks and Dolly Parton. “Where I literally stood next to someone and was like, 'this is f–king wild!'” he says before picking out his wardrobe for the show and chilling with co-star Melissa Etheridge backstage.
The video ends with footage of the epic performance with the help of the orchestra and Jelly on his way through town admiring what just happened while re-watching the whole thing on his phone as he speeds off to his next gig.
Check out the cute video of Eminem meeting Jelly Roll below.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/country/jelly-roll-behind-the-scenes-video-first-meeting-eminem-1235759760/
