I've been making a list of every rapper who put out verses over a jail or prison phone.
In this story on Mac Dre I mention Lil Wayne, Gucci Mane, Drakeo the Ruler, X-Raided. There's also C-Murder, Outkast, Wu-Tang Clan, Capone-N-Noreaga.
Who else?
www.themarshallproject.org/2026/04/05/m...
Check out my new podcast with NYT/Serial/Marshall Project on the death penalty.
Wrote about Hattie Ellis, an incredible blues singer who should be in the canon with Ella, Billie, Buddy, Leadbelly and others.
Many thanks to @texasmonthly.bsky.social + Skip Hollandsworth + Caroline Gnagy for unearthing this history.
www.themarshallproject.org/2026/04/12/h...
James Broadnax's jury used his own rap lyrics to give him the death penalty.
He's scheduled for execution April 30. Killer Mike, T.I. and other rappers are asking the Supreme Court to stop it.
And on top of that... someone else confessed to the crime.
www.themarshallproject.org/2026/03/28/t...
B. Alexis is the 1st woman to release an rap album from prison.
We're not revealing her name due to fears of retaliation.
Read more about her at @themarshallproject.org + sign up for a weekly song in our email newsletter: Redemption Songs
www.themarshallproject.org/2026/03/22/r...
This was truly a fascinating story. Now the @themarshallproject.org and @mauricechammah.bsky.social have compiled a bunch of the songs. They're good!
www.themarshallproject.org/2026/03/10/p...
This essay is an edition of Redemption Songs, a limited-run newsletter from @themarshallproject.org and @mauricechammah.bsky.social that dives into the music produced in prisons over the last century.
We’ve republished it at @thebarbedwire.com 🎶
thebarbedwire.com/2026/04/14/t...
The rap world was stunned when Trevell Coleman, known as G. Dep, walked into a Harlem police precinct and confessed to a cold-case homicide. But @mauricechammah.bsky.social called Coleman to ask about a lesser-known part of his story: the album he released from prison, rapping over a phone line.
In 1992, David Wood was convicted of murdering young women and girls in Texas. Now, his lawyers have one last chance to stop his execution. Listen to "The Last 12 Weeks," a new series following a team of defense attorneys as they try to save their client’s life. nyti.ms/4owiwzO
Redemption Songs, our newsletter spotlighting a song each week by incarcerated artists, is well underway. @mauricechammah.bsky.social has covered gospel with an incarcerated backing choir, rap recorded over jail phones, a mother's lullaby, & more.
🧵 Check out the issues of Redemption Songs so far:
In the 1930s, Hattie Ellis was so beloved for her singing on a prison radio show that the Texas governor pardoned her. But then she vanished.
@mauricechammah.bsky.social shares what we know about her mysterious career:
The New York Times
Patrick Egan
The Marshall Project
The Marshall Project
Olivia Messer
The Marshall Project
Until the 1980s, an annual prison rodeo offered a chance for men inside to perform and sell albums. Now we’re making them available to you.
