Kane Brown Says Before They Collaborated on ‘Haunted’ He’d Heard Jelly Roll ‘Hated’ Him

The next time you think you hate someone because they seem rude or stand-offish, consider the Kane Brown/Jelly Roll conundrum. In an interview with Taste of Country to promote his new album, The High Road, Brown said the LP’s intense collaboration with Jelly, “Haunted,” came about after the two men reached a detent following years of misunderstanding.

“I heard of him before he had ever gotten in the country industry, because I was hanging out with some other guys that were in the world that Jelly was in. We had the same kinda background,” said Brown of the “Save Me” singer who began his career as an MC. Despite having mutual friends, the two men had never met or talked and Brown said one of his pals confirmed to him that Jelly “hated me.”

The mutual pal, Taylor Phillips, told Jelly, “‘Nah, man, you don’t know him… he’s really quiet,” Brown said of the misunderstanding that may have been born of his quiet, subdued nature early in his career. So Brown, 31, reached out to Jelly Roll, 40, so they could settle their phantom beef and come together.

“Taylor ended up telling me the story, so I ended up reaching out to Jelly, I was like, ‘Hey buddy, this industry’s crazy. If you ever need to sit down and talk to me, or play COD’ — I play a lot of Call of Duty — ‘You can come and talk to me about it,’” Brown said. Jelly Roll responded, they played some COD and then were fast friends who now “text all the time,” including “random FaceTimes at 3 a.m.”

That peace pact spun forward to their duet on “Haunted,” which chronicles the mind game of seemingly having it all while struggling with crippling depression and dark thoughts.

“That song means more to me now than it ever has and it’s about to come out at the perfect time,” Brown told Billboard about the tune with the plaintive chorus, “‘Cause I’m haunted by the voice in my head/ I’m haunted by the taste of that lead/ I wanted too many times to jump off of the edge/ Thinkin’ I was better off dead.”

The slow-rolling single with skittering drum machine beats mashed against both mens’ drawling vocals is of a piece with Jelly’s frequent lyrical focus on mental health and his battles with substance use. In his recent chat with Billboard, Brown confirmed that the two men don’t just hang now, but they’ve actually developed a real connection.

“Hanging with Jelly is fun, and you never know what he’s going to say — and I’m not a big talker, so it’s cool,” Brown said. “He’s funny and honestly just a comedian. I love what he’s doing. My dad’s been in prison since ’96, so everything Jelly has been doing with prisons, just going and giving them entertainment, kudos to him. He’s a great dude.”

Check out the “Haunted” video here.