Flavor Flav Touts 'Personal Friend' Jelly Roll's Kindness: 'One of the Most Positive People Right Now' (Exclusive)

Flavor Flav is proud to count Jelly Roll as a "personal friend."

In conversation with PEOPLE as a part of his new collaboration with Smartfood to spread positivity as an ambassador of the brand's products, the iconic Public Enemy founder-turned 2024 Paris Olympics hype man, 65, touched briefly on his relationship with the "Need a Favor" creator, whom he donned a graphic t-shirt of during the chat.

"I'm proud to say it," Flavor Flav touts of their friendship. "That's my guy."

"Let me tell you something: Jelly Roll is one of the most positive people right now, man," he adds. "And his music is so positive, so dope and it says so much. And not only that, but Jelly Roll's music helped out a lot of people that have been down, you know what I'm saying? And the whole nine."

Likening his own efforts as a hype man and motivator to those of the Tennessee-singer, Flavor Flav maintains "that's another role that I play. I play the role like a Jelly Roll, you know what I'm saying? Because there'll be a lot of people that be down in life and when they see me, I brighten up their day and it takes away that negativity that's going on inside of them. Jelly Roll has the same effect. So me and Jelly Roll have something in common, man."

Jelly Roll and Flavor Flav's friendship has been well-documented on social media throughout the former's meteoric rise to stardom. According to footage shared on the latter's TikTok, the two first met in September 2023, exchanging kudos while backstage at a performance.

In December 2023, Jelly Roll shared a video on Instagram of Flavor Flav bringing him a birthday cake ahead of his performance at Jingle Ball in Detroit. Then, in March 2024, Flavor Flav came to Jelly Roll's defense on TikTok to call out those judging him "about his weight and his character," calling him "one of the absolute nicest men on the planet."

The two linked up again at the 2024 iHeart Awards, and once more just weeks later when Flavor Flav introduced Jelly Roll at his The Night Before performance in Detroit in April.

Flavor Flav highlights that his decision to partner with Smartfood on their "Flavor You Can Feel Good About" campaign was born of a similar ethos as Jelly Roll's kindness, and how "spreading positivity" is a cornerstone of his existence.

"There's so much negativity going on in the world right now. I'm saying we do need positivity," he shares. "One thing about me, I've always been a positive person ... And I've always been about positive things, you know what I'm saying in the whole nine. So I feel the more positivity that you spread and the more people you reach with your positivity, the better this world can become."

The star adds how "the world could be a better place. So that's why it's real important to me, man, to spread positivity, you know what I'm saying? I want to be able to one day outweigh all negativity. I can't do it by myself. I need help."