Jail Time Records makes music from the margins

Jail Time Records helps incarcerated people in Cameroon share their music with the world. We spoke with co-founder Dione Roach about how she set up this unique organization, and what it means to give people a second chance through creativity. 

For someone who is unfamiliar with your work, what does Jail Time Records do?

Jail Time Records is a record label working inside prisons, primarily in Cameroon and Burkina Faso. So far, we’ve built two recording studios in Cameroonian prisons and outside a prison in Douala so we can continue to work with people after they leave. We offer professional recording studios to inmates, along with a music programme, and we train incarcerated people in sound engineering and music production. 

The studios inside the prisons are actually run by the prisoners themselves, making them self-sustaining. We also have a studio outside the prison in Douala, so when musicians are released, they can continue working with us.

How did you get started with this? Did you have a background in music?

Actually, I’m a visual artist with no formal music background. I went to Cameroon in late 2017 for a year, working with an NGO teaching photography and video inside a prison. After a few months, I started bringing in artists to run dance workshops, as I love dance and it was my entry into music. During one of these performances, a group of inmates took the microphone and began freestyling. I was blown away by their talent.

When did you first get the plan to do something?

I remembered one of the rappers, and a few months later, told me they were rehearsing every day in the death row courtyard for an upcoming concert. I began attending their rehearsals, and it was incredibly powerful. Music provided a vital outlet for people living in such difficult conditions. Seeing that, I realized the potential for music to teach soft skills, like collaboration and teamwork.

That’s when the idea to build a recording studio came to me. I wanted to record an album and create a studio space. The NGO funded the project, and the prison agreed to it. That’s also when I met Steve, the co-founder. He was incarcerated at the time and is a music producer and sound engineer. He took over the studio and ran it while he was still in prison. After a year, he was released, and we’ve continued working on the project ever since.

And you help people develop a wide range of skills beyond music?

Yes, we’re definitely looking to expand that part of the work. The reality is not everyone can make a career out of music—there are very few who manage to live off it. That’s why we focus on offering additional skills alongside music.

Recently, we opened another studio in a prison just outside Douala. It has more space, so we’ve been able to set up a painting workshop and are starting to introduce arts and crafts. We’re also about to buy a machine to print designs on T-shirts, which can be another source of income. 

When inmates are released, we do our best to provide small grants where possible, to help them set up a small business and become self-sufficient. We also support people in other ways. If someone in prison has a medical emergency or legal fees to cover, we try to assist, since the prison system doesn’t provide much support in that area. 

Are there specific challenges that your community faces?

Part of our work isn’t just about supporting the prisoners themselves—it’s also about changing the way society views incarceration. In Cameroon, the stigma around having been in prison is very strong, and that makes it incredibly difficult for people to reintegrate after release. 

Jail Time Records has really helped in that sense. It’s generated a lot of interest among young people, who see the label as cool, with great music and videos. It’s a way to bridge the gap between people inside and outside prison, and to change the negative perceptions around former inmates.

Can you tell us more about your newest studio?

This studio is located in Ngoma Prison, which is outside Douala. The studio just became operational a few months ago, in June. It’s our largest studio so far, and we also have an arts and painting workshop.

Ngoma is the newest prison in the country—it’s still under construction, so not everything is finished yet. They’re only using one of the buildings at the moment, but when it’s complete, it’ll house 5,000 to 6,000 prisoners.

Our vision is to turn the studio into a hub for the arts. We’ve brought in a painter who comes twice a week to teach painting and drawing, and we’re starting up other arts and crafts activities, like embroidery. The idea is that, eventually, the inmates will be able to sell what they create, like merchandise for the label, so they can earn a living from their work. We’re trying to build a lot of opportunities around creative expression.

I’d love to hear more about your experience running the project, and finding funding.

Yes, it’s definitely frustrating because it’s so hard to get funding. There are very few grants that are specifically for arts projects. The grant we got from The Supporting Act Foundation was one of the few that’s so focused on “art for impact.” Otherwise, you have to apply for corporate grants, and because our work isn’t based in the EU—our nonprofit is registered in Italy, but our projects are outside the EU—we don’t qualify for a lot of the European grants.

Grants for Africa tend to focus on agriculture, health, and other issues, but I think the role of creative industries and cultural development shouldn’t be discounted. I’ve spent a lot of time writing grants, which isn’t my expertise—I’m an artist, so I had to learn how to do it. It takes up so much time and energy.

That’s also why support from organizations like The Supporting Act Foundation has been really important. Over the past few years, they’ve provided long-term funding, which has been crucial because otherwise, there’s always the stress of not knowing if there’ll be money to keep the work going.

Do you know much about the audience of Jail Time Records?

Surprisingly, we seem to have a lot of listeners in the UK. We’ve had articles and radio shows there, so the audience is growing.

The music we do is mostly hip-hop and Afro-pop, with a little bit of world music. It’s popular, accessible music, which is great because the goal is to reach a large audience. 

It’s also a good moment for African music—it’s gaining recognition on the global stage, so there’s a lot of interest. We make sure the production quality is high, even though the music is coming out of a tiny studio.

What advice would you give to someone else who wants to start a socially driven project?

Whenever you have an inspiration, you should act on it. Don’t spend too much time overthinking or projecting into the future. You really have to just do it, and be very persevering as well. And it’s very important to find the right people. Coming across the right individuals can make all the difference.

Photos by curtesy of Dione Roach.