Eminem and Jelly Roll collaborated on the rapper’s song ‘Somebody Save Me’
Jelly Roll gave fans a behind the scenes glimpse into the making of his duet with rapper Eminem.
Jelly Roll, whose legal name is Jason DeFord, and Eminem teamed up for “Live From Detroit: The Concert at Michigan Central” in June. The rapper tapped the country music star to perform “Sing For the Moment.”
“I am fixin’ to meet Eminem,” Jelly Roll explained in the video, posted Aug. 23. “To some degree one could say we’re going from the Grand Ole Opry to meet Eminem.”
“Forty-year-old Jason DeFord is losing his mind,” the country music star added. “Because I know for sure that 15-year-old Jason DeFord would faint! This is unreal, it’s really cool.”
Jelly Roll gave fans a look into his experience meeting Eminem for the first time. (Scott Legato/Getty Images)
In the video, Jelly Roll traveled to Detroit for the performance the morning after playing two shows at the Grand Ole Opry.
While meeting Eminem, Jelly Roll revealed he had been “a little nervous” and wasn’t sure if the rapper even knew who he was.
“Nah, I’ve been knowing you for a minute,” Eminem admitted.
“Forty-year-old Jason DeFord is losing his mind. Because I know for sure that 15-year-old Jason DeFord would faint! This is unreal, it’s really cool.”
Jelly Roll explained meeting Eminem was on the list of high points for him as a musician, along with meeting Garth Brooks and Dolly Parton.
Jelly Roll, left, and Eminem collaborated on the song “Somebody Save Me.” (Getty Images)
Eminem’s song “Somebody Save Me” features a chorus sung by Jelly Roll. The song addresses the 51-year-old rapper’s struggle with addiction, and the music video uses home video clips of Eminem’s daughter Hailie Jade.
“I will say, watching the video back and listening to the songs, I feel like my parents did such a good job growing up where I didn’t realize how bad things were, but now, as an adult in hindsight, it’s so scary to think about and I think that’s why I get emotional so much. Just thinking that that could have happened, and obviously that’s the point of the song,” Hailie Jade said in her podcast, “Just a Little Shady.”
Eminem’s daughter, Hailie Jade, recently reacted to the music video for “Somebody Save Me.” (Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
She continued, “But I will say, if you’ve ever lost an addict, or loved one, I feel for you, and that’s how I feel about it. But it’s a great video. It’s fun to see clips of us when we were younger like that, even ‘Mockingbird,’ but I can’t even listen to that anymore without crying, like the older I get the less I can listen to any of the songs. But it is fun to see those clips, just not in that context.”
