Jelly Roll is a proud father of a girl.

In a recent interview, the country star opened up about the close bond he shares with his 16-year-old daughter Bailee, explaining why she’s “so much smarter” than he was at her age.

Recalling a recent conversation he had with his daughter, Jelly Roll told People magazine, “I said, ‘I don’t judge you by what you do. I judge you based on what I think you are capable of. You.’ We’re so much smarter than I was at 16. You’re so much better, so much more emotional, you can read a room so much better, so don’t try to talk your way out of trouble, Miss Sassy, ​​by weaponizing my past. ‘“

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The country star said Bailee is “totally ahead of his age.”

“When I look at what she does, which I think is terrible, I look back at what I did when I was 16 and I think, ‘Oh man…’ If I’m hard on her about things or a little pushy am, she “I know it comes from love,” he said.

The “Save Me” singer has spoken openly about his past legal troubles and his battle with addiction.

During an interview with Billboard in 2023, Jelly Roll, whose full name is Jason Bradley DeFord, told the outlet that he was arrested at age 16 and charged as an adult with aggravated robbery and possession with intent to sell.

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He spent over a year in prison and seven years on probation.

“I never want to discount the fact that it was a heinous crime,” Jelly Roll told Billboard.

He continued: “This is a grown man looking back at a 16-year-old child who made the worst decision he could have made in life and people could have gotten hurt, and thank God that’s fortunate “Haven’t happened to anyone.”

Jelly Roll, who is also father to 8-year-old son Noah, and his wife Bunnie Xo have had sole custody of Bailee since 2017.

“She’s a really run-down child,” he told People. “She has been in the same public school district for 10 years and has had the same friends since me and Bunnie have had custody of her. I think that helped a lot.”

In October, Jelly Roll spoke about how the birth of his daughter was the catalyst for him wanting to change his life.

The country star decided to make a change “as soon as she was born” after “sitting in a jail cell with $17 worth of honey rolls and potato chips to his name.”

“I own an outfit, the one that was in prison, and here I am responsible for a child,” Jelly Roll said during an appearance on “Sunday TODAY with Willie Geist.” “I mean, I was the lowest common denominator in life, you know? I mean, I was scum of the earth. I was a crack dealer. I was a terrible, terrible person. And I thought, ‘I have to figure this out.'”

Earlier this year, he detailed the moment he found out Bailee was born behind bars and how it changed the course of his life.

“I was locked up as a teenager for some terrible decisions and ended up in kind of a revolving door of the system for about a decade,” he told guest host Martin Short during an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” in June. “I had a daughter, and it changed my whole life, man. It was almost like the experience on the Damascus Road when Saul turned to Paul on my behalf.”

“I was locked up and they knocked on my door and told me she was born. And I just cried. It was the first time I cried and I can’t stop crying now,” Jelly Roll joked. “Now I cry every time I see a squirrel on the street. I think, ‘The little squirrel!’ I haven’t cried in 30 years and now I can’t stop.

During an interview with Fox News Digital last year, he shared that his difficult past and his ability to overcome it had a lasting impact on him.

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“Without what I went through, I wouldn’t be the man I am today. I think it gave me strength. I think it gave me my voice,” he said the 2023 CMAs. “It taught me a lot about overcoming. It taught me a lot about change and the ability to change.”

He continued: “I was a terrible person for decades, and to just turn that around and use music to convey a message and help people… and just try to give back as much as I can in any way I can is very. “This shows where I come from and how important it is to me to always come back.”

Fox News Digital’s Ashley Hume and Lauryn Overhultz contributed to this story.