Brandon Lake and famous country artist Jelly Roll have teamed up to release a collaboration on Lake’s “Hard Fought Hallelujah,”!
But there’s a special reason that Jelly Roll decided to collaborate on this song…
Jelly Roll has been candid about his struggles with church hurt and the challenges it posed to his faith journey. When he first heard “Hard Fought Hallelujah,” it brought him back to worship after years of feeling distant from God.
“Whoa, God sent me the record for me. Not only does He want me to listen to it and worship, He wants me to live with it and learn.” | Jelly Roll
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Two artists from completely different backgrounds—one rooted in worship, the other in country and hip-hop—coming together over a song about clinging to faith in the hardest moments. You can listen to their honest conversation about church hurt, their relationship with God, and how God is using music and blending genres to create more worship.
In this video, Jelly Roll shared how his mom used to play music for him as a kid, and he always saw it as a way to connect deeply with his emotions. He believes music should be a heart cry—raw, honest, and real. So when he heard Hard Fought Hallelujah, it hit him differently. He didn’t even realize it was by a Christian artist—it just felt like pure, honest worship. From the very first lyric, “I don’t always feel it,” the song spoke to exactly where he was.
“I carry my faith with me, but I’m also struggling and open and honest about that. To me, it was like worship music for sinners. It’s been years since I’ve worshipped the way I’ve worshipped to that song. I hope that it connects people the way it connected me again.” | Jelly Roll
Brandon Lake had already seen the impact Jelly Roll could have. When he watched him sing Believe with Brooks & Dunn at a secular awards show, he noticed something powerful—everyone in the room was worshipping. In that moment, Brandon saw church happen in an unexpected place, and he knew he had to reach out.
Beyond the music, this moment is bigger than just one song. Seeing mainstream artists step into the Christian space means more people are being introduced to the gospel. It’s a reminder that God can use anyone, anywhere, to share His truth—whether it’s from a church stage or the top of the Billboard charts.
“More people are lending their ear to what God’s doing in music. These lines of genre are being blurred and it ultimately is ministering to people and giving them hope, and faith, and love, and courage.” | Brandon Lake
Jelly Roll and Brandon Lake are not the only ones blurring the lines between Christian and mainstream music. We’ve seen some surprising collaborations that brought faith-filled messages to new audiences in ways no one saw coming.👇
6 Unlikely Christian and Mainstream Collaborations
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