Inside the Prison With Its Own Record Label

New Bell prison in Douala is one of Central Africa’s most feared correctional facilities. Overcrowded, under-resourced and scarred by violence, it has long been a symbol of the failures of Cameroon’s justice system.

But in recent years, something unexpected has emerged from its grim corridors: a record label.

Jail Time Records, founded in 2018, has turned a cramped room in the overcrowded prison into a creative sanctuary. Inmates who once had little hope now have a microphone, an audience and a voice that reaches far beyond the prison walls.

“Before that, they had the stubborn mentality: it’s them against the world,” said Steve Happi, a former inmate who co-founded the studio.

“They feel now important — they feel like they have a place in the society.”

It all began when Italian artist Dione Roach, who was volunteering at the prison, watched a group of inmates freestyle during a dance workshop.

Their raw talent and energy convinced her that music could offer something rare in this unforgiving environment: a path to redemption, according to a BBC report.

She approached the prison authorities with a proposal. They agreed. The studio was born.

“We don’t think anymore about the four walls — we find the freedom,” Happi told the BBC’s Talking Movies programme.

Inmates who once spent their days in isolation or conflict now pour their energy into songwriting and recording.

The label has released tracks that blend trap, drill and Afro-house, gaining fans across Africa, the United States and Argentina.

Earlier this year, the prison courtyard was transformed into a concert venue, with hundreds of inmates watching their peers perform.

One of the label’s artists, Empereur, a feared gang leader, has racked up tens of thousands of YouTube views with a video shot entirely inside the prison.

Another, Stone, a former presidential guard serving time for robbery, uses his music to process the trauma of his past and to stay connected with his young daughter on the outside.

“The process we’re doing is a rehabilitation process,” Roach said.

“We enter the prison without any judgment. Music, as with any creative process, is also a way of self-discovery… coming to terms with things you’ve done and hopefully changing for the better.”

A documentary about the project, co-directed by Happi and Roach and executive produced by Oscar-winning filmmaker Taika Waititi, won three prizes at New York’s Tribeca Film Festival last month, including best documentary feature.

The film ends with a tribute to six prisoners who died while the project was running. But it also captures moments of joy, connection and human dignity that are rare in a place like New Bell.

Today, Jail Time Records has expanded into the prison’s women’s wing and opened a second studio in Burkina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou.

For the inmates, the studio is about more than music. It is about being seen, heard and remembered.

As Happi put it: “They feel now important — they feel like they have a place in the society.”