2021 Wrap-Up!

Hey Y’all,

BL Shirelle here. How has the new year been treating you? Hopefully you are well. I just want to give you a recap of 2021 for DJC Records. We had a really productive year. Our successes wouldn’t exist without you all, so thank you!

J A N U A R Y

- PPE Into Prisons report released. On January 20, our PPE Into Prisons report was released, which you can see here. In efforts to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, Die Jim Crow raised $25,000.00 to send over 30,000 masks into 26 prisons and jails across the United States. Thank you to everyone who donated and shared our campaign on social media or by word of mouth. It was a great opportunity to come together as a community and it was effortlessly executed due to the people's efforts! ✊🏾

Virtual Volumes continues with Simply Naomi. On January 17 we kicked off our Virtual Volumes series with Vol. 3: Simply Naomi! This was our first collaboration with Simply Naomi, a phenomenal gospel/soul singer and pianist. Simply Naomi served 37 years in prison on a LIFE sentence which was commuted. Along with her music career, she works with the Pennsylvania Lt. Governor John Fettermen as a Commutation Specialist assisting others in seeking commutation. Simply Naomi has a single being released by DJC Records in February 2022 called “Mello-D” off the upcoming Lifers’ Groove album. Look out for it!

F E B R U A R Y

Maserati-E breaks the mold. On February 21, 2021 Maserati E blessed us with his art and presence for Virtual Volume 3. Maserati E is a formerly incarcerated, Emmy-nominated artist from Oakland California. He uses his eclectic style of acoustic, melodic hip hop to spread hopeful messages and life affirming inspiration in songs like “Break the Mold” and “Same Page.” 🎸

M A R C H

Our first live event in awhile… at MoMA PS1! On March 20th, 2021, in conjunction with MoMA PS1’s exhibit “Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration,” we had the honor of presenting our band Territorial, who are incarcerated in Colorado — check out MoMA PS1 x Tlaxihuiqui: A Virtual Performance . The evening also featured beautiful performances by Simply Naomi and BL Shirelle. This was our first live show since the pandemic began, so indeed a special moment for us. 🥁

MoMA PS1 photos by Ryan Muir, courtesy of the museum.

A P R I L

Truth never dies with EL BENTLY 448. On April 4th, we had the opportunity to host a Virtual Volume 4 headlining EL BENTLY 448. Leon Benson is a wrongfully convicted artist from Flint, Michigan. EL BENTLY has a project set to release with DJC Records in the near future (more on that here), but more importantly is fighting for his freedom after 22 years of incarceration. Other DJC-affiliated artists Two and Obadyah Ben-Yisrayl performed as well.

We also launched DJC x UMAW Instruments Into Prisons on April 22. A collaboration with the Union of Musicians & Allied Workers. Our mission for the Instruments Into Prisons campaign is to supply DJC-affiliated musicians and non-affiliated alike with tools to express their creativity while serving time.

M A Y

Instruments Into Prisons off to an electrifying start. May 30th, 2021 we gave our first update on the Instruments into Prison Drive. In a month we were able to raise $3,538.00 to cover shipping and additional costs from 79 gracious supporters. We shipped 22 pieces of gear to 8 cities in 5 states!

J U N E

Kicking into groove with the Lifers. In June it was time to create. So we embarked on recording Lifers Groove, a group of former lifer musicians/DJC collaborators made up of Carl Dukes, Maxwell Melvins, Michael Austin, Valerie Seeley, and Simply Naomi and produced by Brian Lawlor. This compilation album is part soul, gospel, doo wop, spoken word, and R&B. Stories of love, hope, domestic abuse, and incarceration weave through a classic sonic paradise. Release date TBD 2022-23. With over 140 years of incarceration between all of them, this is set to be the ultimate celebration of art and freedom!

(L-R): Simply Naomi, Carl Dukes, and Valerie Seeley at Garden Sound Studio, Hoboken NJ. Photos by Fury Young.

L-R: Carl Dukes, Simply Naomi, Michael Austin, Maxwell Melvins, Valerie Seeley. Photo by Britni West.

J U L Y

Redemption in “America The Merciful.” The Fourth of July was a fitting day to release the music video for “America The Merciful," a song which asks “What is redemption?” This is an important question for Dane "Zealot" Newton, who is serving a 36-year sentence for robbery. Featured rapper Uno has been serving a life sentence since age 19. We were fortunate to collaborate with Philadelphia-based filmmaker Shaina Nasrin for the video, who did a stellar job directing and editing.

A U G U S T

The Calling of the Spirits! “Tlaxihuiqui” is released. On August 12, the much anticipated Territorial “Tlaxihuiqui" album drops — the first music to make it our of Territorial Correctional Facility in 150 years. download "Tlaxihuiqui" here

"One of the most powerful listening experiences of the year." - UNdrcurrents

“The songs soar and crawl, rage and plead, beg and proclaim, revealing the searching soul of an incarcerated melting pot within the borders of our own body politic”. - Washington Post

If you haven't listened to Territorial’s album yet, you have denied yourself an unforgettable experience. You’ll remember where you were the first time you heard it. It’s one of those!

S E P T E M B E R

Painting a picture with Territorial Lyric Videos. We released the lyric video for Tlaxihuiqui’s opening title track. “Tlaxihuiqui,” as well as “Chicahuac” and “Remorse.” To date, we have released five lyric videos from the album, with the rest on the way in 2022! Please make sure you subscribe to their Youtube channel, like, comment, and share their content please!

Tameca and Fury wrap up PS1 mentorship. On September 8, DJC-affiliated visual artist Tameca Cole was in town for an art opening at Martos Gallery, where three new works of hers were shown. She also stopped by the DJC office, where her and Fury got to go through his collage collection and send her home with a bunch of new material. While Tameca was still in prison, Fury would send her cut outs and encouraged her to do collage work – so this was a full circle moment and a great way to wrap up Tameca’s (non)residency program with MoMA PS1, in which Fury had been one of her mentors.

O C T O B E R

Instruments Into Prisons is booming. We released our third and latest update to the Instruments into Prison Drive. At that point, we'd shipped 68 pieces of gear of a total market value of $7,857.00! Also, Tameca Cole dropped off a PA system at Birmingham Work Release, where she was once served time — another positive full circle moment!
In our upcoming Update 4, you’ll see that we more than doubled this market value amount by year end! You can support this mission here: DJC x UMAW Instruments Into Prisons.

N O V E M B E R

Looking ahead to 2022 and beyond… In November we took some time to strengthen our infrastructure. Retaining two new board members, Entertainment Lawyer Michael Lawrence, and veteran strategy coach Eddie Berg, we began a five-year plan and solidified our mission, vision, and values. By the month’s end, we announced our new mission statement: Dismantling stereotypes around race and prison in America by amplifying the voices of justice-impacted musicians and artists.
We did a lot of housekeeping in order to enter 2022 the strongest version of ourselves thus far! — Look out for our 2022-2027 plan dropping soon.

D E C E M B E R

World, get ready for B. Alexis. Just before Christmas I finished mixing B. Alexis’ debut album. B. Alexis is incarcerated in South Carolina. She’s a very talented songwriter/rapper serving 30 years. Her project is set to release May 2022. With themes of self love, self hate, motherhood and incarceration, God, prostitution, Black love and much more… B. Alexis delivers one of the most honest hip hop records ever recorded. Can't wait for you to hear it!

Thru The Vent launch. On December 23, I began curating a monthly series called “Thru The Vent” which highlights various justice-impacted stories. Read the first edition of the series here which features my wife Latoya Ross!

Here’s to another year of amplifying our artists! 🥂

Sincerely,

DJC x UMAW IIP: Update #4

THRU THE VENT: Latoya Ross