The Notorious Cameroonian Prison with Its Own Record Label

Notorious Cameroon prison with Its own record label

Within the crumbling, overcrowded walls of New Bell, a notorious prison in Douala described as a “city within a city,” an unlikely sound is emerging: the pulse of a professional music studio. Jail Time Records, an on-site record label and recording studio founded in 2018, is transforming some of Cameroon’s most feared inmates into international […]

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 li…

The notorious Cameroonian prison with its own record label

New Bell – a notorious prison in Douala, Cameroon – is a city within a city. The facility has its own “taxis” (inmates who whizz through congested courtyards on foot to hand deliver messages), its own law enforcement (burly prisoners who help stretched guards police the facility) and market (a string of stalls where convicts sell and buy goodies, like fried cassava and beignet pastries). Basically, the occupants of New Bell have adapted the jail…

New Bell: The notorious Cameroonian prison with its own record label

New Bell – a notorious prison in Douala, Cameroon – is a city within a city. The facility has its own “taxis” (inmates who whizz through congested courtyards on foot to hand deliver messages), its own law enforcement (burly prisoners who help stretched guards police the facility) and market (a string of stalls where convicts sell and buy goodies, like fried cassava and beignet pastries). Basically, the occupants of New Bell have adapted the jail…