4:37
- ABC News
- May 29, 2020
Inmates release hip-hop mixtape from behind bars
A mixtape produced by inmates at San Quentin State Prison aims to inspire youth.
4:37
At first not everyone at the prison was supportive of the effort, but, according to Jassy, \"Once they started realizing and understanding what we were doing, more and more support came.\" Eventually, the warden and others supported the project.
After years of battling \"prison politics\" and \"red tape\" and the ability to receive a keyboard \"through divine intervention,\" Jassy said that by 2018, they had received equipment donations and were able to put together a studio in the prison.
As news got out about the project, a psychologist at San Quentin visited the studio and \"was moved to tears\" when he saw the young men in action, Jassy said, prompting him to use the music in his therapy sessions with death row inmates at the facility.
Earlier today, we went to visit San Quentin State Prison to meet men who've transformed their lives from being in some of the darkest places to being a light for themselves and others. https://t.co/XBoFoHHrts pic.twitter.com/K1mxw7gimu
— COMMON (@common) August 3, 2018
Over the last two years, the San Quentin Music Program was visited by celebrities like Kim Kardashian West, Common, J. Cole, MC Hammer and music producer Quincy Jones III, who brought national attention to the effort.
\"It was extremely motivating,\" Abercrombie said of those visits. \"It was instilling so much hope that it was possible to actually accomplish ... something I've been dreaming about literally, as long as I can remember.\"
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/san-quentin-mixtape-04-ht-jc-200527_hpEmbed_3x2_384.jpg\")
The album intro features J. Cole, DJ Khaled, Meek Mill, Common, T.I., Fat Joe, Snoh Aalegra, Maxwell, Nick Cannon, Talib Kweli and hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons.
All proceeds from album sales will go to the National Center for Victims of Crime, The Boys & Girls Club of Oakland and Potrero Hill Neighborhood House.
After learning about Jassy's story, criminal justice reform organization #Cut50 advocated for his release, and on March 27, his sentence was commuted by California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Kardashian West thanked Newsom at the time, tweeting, \"I visited him at San Quentin & saw the music program he ran for youth inside and I know he is going to continue to give back once he is home!\"
Thank you @gavinnewsom for granting David Jassy a commutation today! I visited him at San Quentin & saw the music program he ran for youth inside and I know he is going to continue to give back once he is home! @jessicajackson @cut_50 ✨
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) March 28, 2020
According to court documents, Jassy was convicted of killing jazz musician John Osnes during an altercation in 2008 which ended with Jassy hitting Osnes with his car. The producer has denied doing so intentionally.
He was released at 45, after 11 years of incarceration, and has since returned to Sweden to reunite with his family, but the music program he started through the Youthful Offenders Program is still running and he's still sending beats to San Quentin.
\"I learned a lot from them, just to hear their struggles and what they went through and how they dealt with it,\" Jassy said, adding that his fellow inmates on the project \"became more than just guys that's rapping in the studio, you know, they became my family ... so for me, it's an experience that I will never forget.\"
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/san-quentin-mixtape-05-ht-jc-200527_hpEmbed_3x2_384.jpg\")
Abercrombie was released in August 2019 after nine years in prison, and in addition to producing music, he launched a speaking tour with his friend and former San Quentin inmate Antwane Williams to reach out to young people.
\"We were on tour going to high schools and colleges doing music as well [and] utilizing the power of narrative, telling our story and attempting to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline,\" he said.
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