Music in Prison | 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.

← Popular Records

Are we missing a record? Tell us.

Marshall Project Originals

B. Alexis Is the First Woman to Drop an Album From Prison. But We Can’t Say Her Real Name.

She fearlessly raps about traumas like being trafficked at 13. But she’s so scared of institutional retaliation, she’s concealing her identity.

Redemption Songs • 03.22.2026

When Texas Was Fertile Ground for Prison Bands

Until the 1980s, an annual prison rodeo offered a chance for men inside to perform and sell albums. Now we’re making them available to you.

Feature • 03.10.2026

How I Became an Opera Composer in a Maximum Security Prison

I learned music theory through workshops at New York’s Sing Sing prison. I earned my stripes by singing for boisterous crowds of incarcerated critics.

Life Inside • 04.18.2025

↓ Show More

Around the web