The notorious Cameroonian prison with its own record label

The notorious Cameroonian prison with its own record label New Bell, a notorious prison in Douala, Cameroon, operates like a city within its walls. Inmates run an informal taxi service, ferrying messages across crowded courtyards on foot. A group of burly prisoners acts as the facility’s internal enforcement, assisting guards with order. A bustling marketplace lines the grounds, where vendors sell fried cassava, beignet pastries and other goods. Within this self‑organized ecosystem, Jail Time Records has emerged as an on‑site music workshop that turns talent into mini‑stars. Empereur, the feared leader of gangs both inside and outside the prison, has amassed 24,000 YouTube views for a video filmed entirely behind bars. Songs produced by the inmates have attracted listeners as far away as South Africa, the United States and Argentina. Earlier this year Jail Time Records staged a massive performance for the prison population in New Bell’s courtyard. Steve Happi, a former inmate who co‑founded the label, told the BBC’s Talking Movies programme: “It's this instrumentality of resistance… where we can truly share friendship, emotion and our voices can be heard.” He added, “We don't think anymore about the 4 walls - we find the freedom.” The recording studio itself is modest—a small, sweaty booth attached to a room that houses a solitary computer. Yet it serves as a site of catharsis and creativity, a fact highlighted in an acclaimed documentary that bears the studio’s name. Directed by Happi and Italian artist Dione Roach, his co‑founder in Jail Time Records, the film was shot over six years at New Bell. Last period it won 3 prizes, including champion documentary feature, at New York's Tribeca movie festival. In the documentary, an inmate identified as Stone steps to the microphone and raps: “Heart of stone, it's war. My senses shatter like broken glass. I'm closed and choked like a compartment door. No solid ground I slip like a fish.”