P R E S S
“Producers at Die Jim Crow Records are collecting instruments to send into prisons and building soundproof studios in prison gyms and janitorial closets out of PVC pipes and blankets…This music can transform us, changing how we think about the people who make it…the truth is we need them.”
— Maurice Chammah, New York Times
“The howling need for redemption at its core makes it less a mere musical experience and more a profound leap of faith.”
— Michael Patrick F. Smith, WASHINGTON POST
“Toppling Stereotypes.”
— Ilana Kaplan, Los Angeles Times
“A population that is often talked about but not talked to.”
— Tanzina Vega, WNYC
“The songs are a collection of personal stories… [of] regret, forgiveness and faith. ”
— Amy Ta, KCRW
“The [Die Jim Crow] EP mixes melancholy soul, torrid rock guitar solos and solemn hip-hop.”
— Elias Leight, Rolling Stone
More Press
2023
Mission Magazine’s November Music Issue features DJC/FREER Records - pdf
The Marshall Project features Lifers Groove - November 4 - link / pdf
Leon Benson NZZ am Sonntag Magazine - November 11 - link / pdf
Leon Benson on Swiss Public Radio SRF - November 1 - link / pdf
Amnesty International Journal - September 29 - link / pdf
Leon Benson on By Little Media Podcast - Aug 17 - link / pdf
NPR’s Fresh Air with Tonya Mosley and Maurice Chammah feature Die Jim Crow Records - Aug 17 - link / pdf
The Marshall Project - Aug 3 - link / pdf
The New York Times - Aug 3 - link / pdf
Dublab - July 29 - link / pdf
The Progressive - July 24 - link / pdf
Busy Being Black Podcast with Leon Benson - July 16 - link / pdf
Deutschlandfunk Kultur Radio - July 11 - link / pdf
The Flint Courier - June 30 - link / pdf
Detroit Metro Times - June 28 - link / pdf
Shadowproof EL BENTLY 448 - May 8 - link / pdf
Race To Social Justice Podcast with Keva White and John Kempner - May 3 - link / pdf
Stories From Nowhere Podcast with Andrew Rice - April 3 - link / pdf
2022
What’s On Your Mind Podcast with Jani Rad - November 15 - link / pdf
As It Should Be with Thamarrah Jones Podcast - October 21 - link / pdf
The Creative Process Podcast - October 21 - Link / pdf
PEN America - September 16 - link / pdf
Penned Podcast - September 9 - LINK / pdf
Voyage Denver - February 15 - link / pdf
The Science Survey - February 1 - link / pdf
Oxygen - January 4 - link / pdf
Undrcurrents - January 1 - link / pdf
2021
The Ongoing History of Protest Music - December 31 - link / pdf
The Nürnberger Nachrichten - December 28 - link / pdf
Shadowproof - December 20 - link / pdf
FLOOD Magazine - December 6 - link / pdf
Prison: The Hidden Sentence - December 1 - link / pdf
Deustchland Kultur - November 30 - link / pdf
KCRW - October 11 - link / pdf
Westword - October 4 - link / pdf
Washington Post - September 29 - link / pdf
5280 Magazine - September 13 - link / pdf
303 Magazine - August 17 - link / pdf
Undrcurrents - August 13 - link / pdf
Colorado Public Radio - August 12 - link / pdf
Busy Being Black - August 11 - link / pdf
The Wire - May Issue - pdf
Society of Sound - March 24 - link / pdf
WXPN The Key - March 22 - link / pdf
2020
StockX - November 4 - link / pdf
San Francisco Bay View - September 27 - link / pdf
Los Angeles Review of Books - September 15 - link / pdf
Grammys.com - September 9 - link / pdf
Philadelphia Weekly - September 3 - link / pdf
The Atlantic - September 1 - link / pdf
At Night I Fly - August - link / pdf
Blog Talk Radio - August - link / pdf
Pitchfork - August 26 - link / pdf
BBC - August 24 - link / pdf
Arte TV France - August 24 - link / pdf
The Philadelphia Inquirer - July 15 - link / pdf
Brightest Young Things - July 14 - link / pdf
Busy Being Black - July 4 - link / pdf
The Los Angeles Times - June 26 - link / pdf
Passion of the Weiss - June 26 - link / pdf
Shadowproof - June 22 - link / pdf
Bandcamp Daily - June 19 - link / pdf
Vinyl Factory - June 19 - link / pdf
Interview Magazine - June 17 - link / pdf
WNYC’s The Takeaway - June 16 - link / pdf
Columbus Alive - June 2 - link / pdf
Mississippi Free Press - May 29 - link / pdf
Oxygen - May 28 - link / pdf
Cleve Scene - May 26 - link / pdf
Decarceration Nation - May 25 - link / pdf
PEN America - April 29 - link / pdf
Radio Kingston - April 5 - link / pdf
New York Post - April 4 - link / pdf
2019
Flowertown - November 2 - pdf
Redacted Tonight With Lee Camp - October 31 - link / pdf
Shadowproof - October 25 - link / pdf
Shadowproof - October 22 - link / pdf
The Independent - October 17 - link / pdf
Bushwick Daily - January 17 - link / pdf
News 12 Brooklyn - January 3 - link / pdf
2018
Ms. Magazine - December 20 - link / pdf
Blavity - June 21 - link / pdf
Rolling Stone - June 19 - link / pdf
2016
Give A Beat - April 6 - link / pdf
Lunch With Legs - March 31 - link / pdf
The Oz Mix - March 31 - link / pdf
Rhino Horn Group - March 22 - link / pdf
2014
More Art - August 7 - link / pdf
Bedford + Bowery - August 1 - link / pdf