Cameroon's notorious prison runs its own record label, giving inmates a voice

A city within a city

New Bell prison in Douala, Cameroon, operates like a small city. It has its own 'taxis' – inmates who run on foot to deliver messages – its own law enforcement (burly prisoners who assist guards) and a market where convicts sell fried cassava and beignets. The inmates have adapted the prison's lax rules to their advantage, and the clearest example is Jail Time Records, an on-site music studio and label that turns talented prisoners into minor celebrities.

Music as resistance and rehabilitation

Founded in 2018 by former inmate Steve Happi and Italian artist Dione Roach, the studio began after Roach volunteered for a non-profit and saw inmates rapping during a dance class. Happi, who was jailed after a family dispute over his father's burial and later acquitted, runs the studio as producer and sound engineer. The music has become an instrument of resistance, allowing inmates to share friendship and love. 'We don't think anymore about the four walls - we find the freedom,' Happi told the BBC.

The label's reach is international: Empereur, a feared gang leader both inside and outside prison, has garnered 24,000 YouTube views with a video filmed entirely in New Bell. Songs have fans in South Africa, the US, and Argentina. Earlier this year, Jail Time Records held a large concert in the prison courtyard for the inmates.

Documentary success and harsh realities

The story of the studio was captured in an acclaimed documentary, directed by Happi and Roach, filmed over six years. Last month, it won three prizes at New York's Tribeca film festival, including Best Documentary Feature. It features inmates like Stone, a former presidential guard soldier serving 10 years for robbery and illegal firearms possession, who insists he is innocent and tries to contact his young daughter Maira. Executive producers include Oscar-winning director Taika Waititi and singer Rita Ora.

New Bell itself is grim: with 4,700 inmates in a facility built for 1,200, conditions are unsanitary. A cholera outbreak four years ago killed at least six inmates. Violence is common – in 2008, guards shot 16 inmates during an attempted breakout. Despite this, the prison authorities support the studio, viewing it as rehabilitation. The label has expanded to the women's wing and in 2023 set up a studio in Burkina Faso's main prison. Profits from music sales are split 50/50 with the artists. The documentary ends with a tribute to six prisoners who died during the project. 'Before that, they had the stubborn mentality: it's them against the world,' Happi says. 'They feel now important - they feel like they have a place in society.'