Jelly Roll, Need A Favor | Music Lifts 🎶 🏋

In the second edition of Music Lifts (2025), we’re uplifted by rapper turned country singer Jelly Roll performing “Need A Favor.”

Welcome to Music Lifts 🎶 🏋, a column highlighting songs that encourage, inspire, and uplift the spirit; songs exuding fortitude, positivity, and resolve, even in the face of adversity.  Featured songs aren’t genre-specific; songs may or may not be faith-based. The goal is for these songs to make you feel better – be LIFTED to new heights!  So, for the second edition of Music Lifts 🎶 🏋 (2025), we highlight “Need A Favor” as performed by Jelly Roll.

“I only talk to God when I need a favor / And I only pray when I ain’t got a prayer,” Jelly Roll (Jason Bradley DeFord) sings honestly in the chorus of  “Need A Favor.”  “Need A Favor” appears near the end of the rapper-turned-country singer’s 2023 album, Whitsitt Chapel. DeFord, Joe Ragosta, Rob Ragosta, and producer Austin Nivarel wrote “Need A Favor.” He continues singing expressively in the chorus, “So, who the hell am I, who the hell am I to expect a savior, oh? / But, God, I need a favor.” Word.  While there will be many ‘Christians’ who will cry foul about Jelly Roll’s assertions, many of us ‘fall in the same boat.’ What do we do when we need help? We call on God.  When things go well how often do we thank or seek Him out? Food for thought.

The chorus isn’t the only intriguing part of “Need A Favor.” In the verses, Jelly Roll continues to be an ‘open book’ regarding his flaws, spirituality, or lack thereof.  “I know amazin’ grace, but I ain’t been livin’ them words,” he sings in the first verse, continuing, “Swear I spend most Sundays / Drunk off my ass than I have at church.”  My, my, my! In the second verse, he tells God, “Yeah, I owe you more than one,” adding, “I’ll pay for all I’ve done / Just please don’t let me lose her.” Jelly Roll has sinned – he’s flawed.  But he knew exactly who to petition for help: G-O-D! Woo! Furthermore, DeFord’s voice is AMAZING! 

Jelly Roll // Whitsitt Chapel // Bailee & Buddy Management, Inc. / This Is Hit, Inc. d/b/a Stoney Creek // 2023

Jelly Roll, Need A Favor: Music Lifts 🎶 🏋 No. 2 (2025) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Bailee & Buddy Management, Inc. / This Is Hit, Inc. d/b/a Stoney Creek; BD Jewel, Dave H, Jean-Daniel Francoeur, Joshua Brown, Vansh Mehta from Pexels; AcatXIo, OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay]