New Bell prison in Douala, Cameroon, is a city within a city. It has its own 'taxis' (inmates who deliver messages on foot), its own law enforcement (burly prisoners helping guards), and its own market (stalls selling fried cassava and beignet pastries). The clearest example of this spirit is Jail Time Records, an on-site music studio and label making mini-stars out of talented inmates. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing BBC News.
Empereur, the feared gang leader inside and outside prison, has amassed 24,000 YouTube views with a music video filmed entirely in prison. Songs from inmates have gained fans from South Africa, the US, and Argentina, and earlier this year Jail Time Records put on a huge concert in New Bell's courtyard.
'It's this instrument of resistance... where we can really share friendship, love and our voices can be heard,' says Steve Happi, former inmate and co-founder of Jail Time Records, to the BBC's Talking Movies programme. 'We don't think anymore about the four walls - we find the freedom.'
The Jail Time Records studio is rudimentary - a small, sweaty recording booth attached to a room with a solitary computer. But it is also the site of great catharsis and creativity, as per a recent acclaimed documentary named after the studio. Directed by Happi and Italian artist Dione Roach, it was filmed in New Bell over six years. Last month it won three prizes, including best documentary feature, at New York's Tribeca film festival.
In the film, a prisoner named Stone raps into the microphone: 'Heart of stone, it's war. My senses shatter like broken glass. I'm closed and tight like a cell door. No solid ground I slip like a fish.'
Stone, a former soldier in Cameroon's presidential guard, was sentenced to 10 years in New Bell for robbery and illegal possession of firearms. He insists he is not guilty. The film captures him trying to reach his young daughter Maira on the phone.
'It's been a long time. She needs to hear my voice from time to time, so she doesn't forget about her father,' he says in a voice message to a family member.
The music video for Heart of Stone is a typical Jail Time Records affair: high production value, captivating storytelling, and fellow inmates as actors and crew.
'The music that comes out of there is amazing,' says Taika Waititi, the New Zealand Oscar-winning director who, with his wife Rita Ora, served as an executive producer for the documentary. 'Just in terms of the power of art in relation to redemption... having an outlet is an incredibly powerful and humane thing.'
Jail Time Records was founded in 2018 when Roach volunteered for a non-profit running events inside New Bell. During a dance class, rappers took over the microphone and began freestyling. Impressed, she asked prison authorities for permission to start a studio. They agreed, and Roach enlisted Happi as producer and sound engineer.
According to Happi, he ended up in New Bell after a family argument over his late father's body. His aunt, a high court judge, allegedly arranged for him to be jailed for killing his father. He was acquitted two years later.
In 2022, Happi, Roach, and the prisoners released an album, Jail Time Vol 1. Half the profit went to the artists, the rest reinvested into the label.
The studio's survival is paramount, especially given New Bell's bitter environment. In 2022, Human Rights Watch reported that New Bell housed 4,700 prisoners - four times its capacity.