Rap Music | The Marshall Project

What are records? Since 2014, The Marshall Project has been curating some of the best criminal justice reporting from around the web. In these records you will find the most recent and the most authoritative articles on the topics, people and events that are shaping the criminal justice conversation. The Marshall Project does not endorse the viewpoints or vouch for the accuracy of reports other than its own.

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Marshall Project Originals

Two 17-Year-Olds in Custody Wrote a Love Song in an Arts Program. One Didn’t Survive.

The Radical Reversal program opens recording studios in youth correctional facilities. The work doesn’t come without heartbreak.

Redemption Songs • 08.23.2026

In the Early ’90s, the Lifers Group Tried to Warn Kids About the Perils of Prison

The incarcerated hip-hop group that emerged from the controversial ‘Scared Straight’ program set out to deglamorize the gangster rap of the moment.

Redemption Songs • 08.16.2026

The Young Men Rapping and Beatmaking From a Youth Lockup

On “No Ceilings,” a young Portland lyricist asks, “If I confess all my sins, would they hang me for it?”

Redemption Songs • 08.09.2026

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