Rapping behind bars in Cameroon

Summary

The Documentary Podcast — "Rapping behind bars in Cameroon"

BBC World Service | August 8, 2026

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Overview

This episode, hosted by Faranak Amidi, explores how inmates at the notoriously overcrowded Nubel Prison in Douala, Cameroon, are using music—specifically rap and hip hop—to reclaim hope and self-expression. Journalist Widely Chibilushi details the establishment of Jail Time Records, an inmate-run label and studio operating inside the prison, and discusses its impact on both prisoners and the broader community. The episode also delves into broader issues around prison conditions, rehabilitation, and representation of prisoners in media, capturing candid voices from within and beyond the prison walls.

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Key Discussion Points & Segments

1. Life Inside Nubel Prison (02:06–04:46)

• Overcrowding and Conditions:
  • Nubel Prison houses roughly 4,700 prisoners, four times its intended capacity.
  • Prisoners sleep outdoors in the courtyard, earning the nickname "the penguins" due to huddling for warmth.
  • Sanitation is poor—there’s a shortage of clean water and food, contributing to frequent violence and outbreaks like cholera.
  • “[Prisoners] actually call them the penguins because they huddle together outside in the courtyard.” — Widely Chibilushi (02:45)
• Inmate Demographics:
  • Wide mix: petty crime offenders share space with murderers on death row.
  • Notable example: Jeja, a Nigerian musician imprisoned after fleeing alleged abuse and stealing from her uncle.

2. The Genesis of Jail Time Records (04:49–06:23)

• Foundation:
  • Established in 2018 by Italian artist Dionne Roach, who witnessed inmates’ hidden musical talents during her volunteer work.
  • After gaining permission from prison authorities, Roach enlisted prisoner Steve Happy—a producer/engineer and rapper—to run the studio.
• Production Values:
  • The studio produces high-quality music videos involving both male and female inmates, with enthusiastic participation.
  • “To me, the quality...they all as good as [a] UK rap video filmed on the streets of London or hip hop video from LA.” — Widely Chibilushi (05:52)

3. Impact on Inmates (06:23–07:03)

• Personal Testimonies:
  • Steve Happy: “It allows us to like think and see behind beyond these four walls. It enables us to find freedom, which I thought was quite, quite strong.” — Summarized by Chibilushi (06:31)
  • Jeja: Creation and recording lessened the terror of incarceration for her.

4. Prison Authorities’ Perspective (07:03–07:29)

• Official Support:
  • Authorities view the project positively, citing Cameroonians’ cultural affinity for music.

5. Addressing Criticism: Does Jail Time Records Glamorize Crime? (07:29–08:38)

• Ethical Reflections:
  • Some music references violence; others share vulnerable life stories.
  • Jail Time Records frames itself as a rehabilitation vehicle, declining to “glamorize or condemn” crime.
  • “We just enable them to make music and basically rebuild their lives so that they can become core members of society again.” — Widely Chibilushi (07:56)
  • For some like Jeja, the music serves as catharsis and a form of empathetic connection.

6. Success Beyond Bars (08:38–09:09)

• Recognition:
  • Some videos reach tens of thousands of views online.
  • Hard to track artists’ post-release careers, but international audiences are engaging with the music.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “You’ve got like prisoners sleeping in the courtyard under the stars because there’s just not enough beds and they actually call them the penguins because they huddle together outside...” — Widely Chibilushi (02:42)
• “When she [Dionne Roach] approached the prison authorities, they were just like, yeah, sure. Because... Cameroonians love music.” — Widely Chibilushi (07:08)
• “It enables us to find freedom.” — Paraphrased from Steve Happy (06:31)
• On glamorization and rehabilitation:
  “It’s not our place to judge these people. We don’t glamorize them. We don’t condemn them. We just enable them to make music and basically rebuild their lives so that they can become core members of society again.” — Widely Chibilushi (07:56)

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Key Timestamps

• 02:06–04:46: Overview of Nubel Prison’s overcrowding and conditions.
• 04:49–06:23: Origins and operations of Jail Time Records.
• 06:23–07:03: Prisoners’ perspectives on the project’s impact.
• 07:03–07:29: The prison authorities’ supportive stance.
• 07:29–08:38: The debate over glamorization vs. rehabilitation in prison rap.
• 08:38–09:09: Notable success and global reach of Jail Time Records' artists.

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Tone and Style

The episode balances hard-hitting, documentary-style reporting about human rights and carceral conditions with moments of hope, creativity, and resilience. Listener engagement is fostered through vivid descriptions, candid personal stories, and an invitation to watch and hear the work produced by this unique prison-based music initiative.

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Conclusion

“Rapping behind bars in Cameroon” offers a compelling look at Nubel Prison’s unorthodox response to adversity. It highlights how creativity and community can bring moments of dignity, reflection, and even global recognition, even in the harshest of environments. The episode candidly addresses both the transformative power and the controversies of such projects, ultimately emphasizing rehabilitation and the human capacity for reinvention.

Transcript

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[Faranak Amidi]

You are listening to the documentary from the BBC World Service. Welcome to the fifth floor from the BBC World Service with me Faranak Amidi. The BBC World Service broadcasts in 45 languages around the world. Our job here at the fifth floor is to bring you the best of those stories in English. Coming up, how a 13 year old boy's rejection by an Egyptian football academy sparked a national conversation about anti Christian discrimination.

[Ahmed Omar]

Since 1990 there was only one famous Egyptian football player who was Christian who was playing En Al Ahli, which is one of the major football clubs in Egypt. People now are speaking about that out loudly.

[Faranak Amidi]

But first, Nubel Prison in Douala, Cameroon operates a bit like a city within a city. The facility has its own taxis, its own law enforcement and its own market. The jail is overcrowded and under resourced and the occupants have adapted the jail's stretched system to work for them. An on site music studio and label has also sprung up and found an international audience. Widely Chibilushi, journalist for BBC World Online Africa, came into the 5th Floor studio to tell us more about it.

[Widely Chibilushi]

A 2022 report from the human rights organization Human Rights Watch found that there was 4,700 prisoners there and that's four times the capacity. And so you've got like prisoners sleeping in the courtyard under the stars because there's just not enough beds and they actually call them the penguins because they huddle together outside in the courtyard. And then also sanitation is really poor so there's not clean drinking water, there's not enough food. So you get prisoners fighting over food. Also a lot of violence as well. So you've got gangs that operate in the prison taking each other's food money. Yeah, it can get quite bad there. In 2022, there was a cholera outbreak. And again, human rights organizations have put the fact that it spread so quickly down to the fact that it's so overcrowded, the conditions are so poor. So at least six people died during the outbreak and that's the figure that the authorities gave. But detainees have said that death toll was much larger.

[Faranak Amidi]

Yeah, when I was watching the videos, it doesn't even look like a prison. It kind of looks like a favela or like, kind of like a spiraling slum.

[Widely Chibilushi]

A free for all. Yeah, yeah.

[Faranak Amidi]

What kind of people end up in this prison?

[Widely Chibilushi]

So unlike a lot of prisons where you've got like either maximum security or prisons where, you know, you've got people that go for doing petty crimes with new balance, there's the whole range. So you've got people who are on death row for doing murders, but you've also got people who have committed very low, like petty crimes, minor crimes. So for example, there's a musician called Jaeger who, who is from Nigeria, but she moved to Cameroon to live with her uncle. And at the age of 16, she ran away from his house and stole some of his money because she says that he was abusing her. And so she ended up in New Bal for stealing from her uncle.

[Faranak Amidi]

So that is obviously in the women's prison. Are they mixed?

[Widely Chibilushi]

Yeah, it's mixed. So there's a women's wing? Yeah, yeah. So you've got people like JJ in there for stealing money, but then you've also got people that have done murders and are on death row.

[Faranak Amidi]

That is absolutely terrifying.

[Widely Chibilushi]

Yeah, I mean, that's the word that she used to describe her experience. That terrifying.

[Faranak Amidi]

It is terrifying. So this Jail Time Records, this record label, how was it created and when?

[Widely Chibilushi]

So it's created in 2018, there's an Italian artist called Dionne Roach and she was volunteering in the prison with a non profit organization. And so during a dance class, some of the prisoners took over the microphone, started freestyling and she was like, oh, okay, this is. These guys have got talent. And so these guys kept rehearsing and she went to the prison authorities and was like, how would you feel about setting up a studio and actually making something of these guys talent? And the prison authorities like, yeah, sure. So they Set up a studio and she enlisted one of the prisoners to run it. His name's Steve Happy and he has experience in producing and sound engineering. So that's, that's how it got started.

[Faranak Amidi]

And they on, they don't just broadcast, they make these full on music videos. I mean, I watched a couple of them and I was just, seriously, it was mind blowing. This is high production.

[Widely Chibilushi]

Yeah, absolutely. And I'm a big hip hop fan. And to me, the, the quality, like the music videos, they all as good as UK rap video filmed on the streets of London or hip hop video from la. Like just really high quality videos and everyone gets involved. So you get other prisoners dancing, being hype men, some of them behind the camera as well. It's. Yeah, it's. I'll definitely implore people to watch, to

[Faranak Amidi]

watch one of them. It's incredible. And the quality of the music is so good.

[Widely Chibilushi]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Faranak Amidi]

So what about the prisoners who take part in these videos and in this creative space, what do they say about it?

[Widely Chibilushi]

Okay, so Steve Happy, who I mentioned, so he used to be a prisoner, he's now out, but he's the person that runs the studio. He produces sound engineers and he also raps as well. And he says that while he was there, he was like, it allows us to like think and see behind beyond these four walls. It enables us to find freedom, which I thought was quite, quite strong. And also Jeddah, who I mentioned earlier, she described her experience there as terrifying. But she said when she was able to get into the studio and make music, the experience of being in prison became less terrifying for her.

[Faranak Amidi]

What about the prison authorities? What is their take on the whole situation?

[Widely Chibilushi]

Yeah, so they're really into it. So both Dion and Steve, when my colleague Tom interviewed them, they were saying that when they approached the prison authorities, they were just like, yeah, sure. Because they were saying that Cameroonians love music. It's like a really, really big part of their culture in daily lives. So for the prison authorities, they were like, of course, like, yeah, this could be nothing but a good thing.

[Faranak Amidi]

Of course the people in these videos, they are criminals, some of them very dangerous criminals. And when I was actually watching the video in the beginning, it is quite scary because, you know, they pretend like they're shooting guns and you know, it is kind of like intimidating. Do these videos glamorize crime and the life of criminals?

[Widely Chibilushi]

So from jail time records point of view, they're saying this is a rehabilitation project. It's not our place to judge these people. We don't glamorize them. We don't condemn them. We just enable them to make music and basically rebuild their lives so that they can become core members of society again. And that's good for everyone. And as for the lyrics, it ranges. So you get some people talking about, you know, don't mess with me, I've done dangerous things before. But you also get people like Jeja who are kind of pouring their heart out. Like, you know, this is what I've been through. No one's ever been there for me. I guess catharsis and something that you can really, really empathize with.

[Faranak Amidi]

So have any of the artists gone on to become successful recording artists outside of prison?

[Widely Chibilushi]

So with the YouTube channel you get people like who is the leader of the Quarter Latin gang? At the time of me writing the article, he had 24,000 views for his video, which is pretty good. But he's still in jail at the moment, so it's hard to tell how good he will be, how much attention he'll be after leaving prison. But it's, yeah, it's hard to tell how big people who have left have got when they are outside the prison.

[Faranak Amidi]

Thank you very much, Wideeli. Thanks to Wideaily Cibolushi from BBC World Online Africa. In Egypt, Christians are a substantial minority making up 10 to 15% of the population. But they are not always represented fairly in employment and public life. This month the case of 13 year old Makari Yunan has led to a public debate over anti Christian discrimination. Ahmed Omar of BBC Arabic joins me now from the BBC's Cairo bureau. Ahmed, welcome to the program. It's great to have you.

[Ahmed Omar]

Thank you.

[Faranak Amidi]

So tell me about Makari, what happened to him?

[Ahmed Omar]

Makari, he is a young football player. He is our young kid. He's 13 years old and he was trying to get enrolled in a football academy in Egypt. He was reportedly denied entry after the coach discovered that he was Christian. Actually the story got a lot of attention on the social media after his mom posted the story. So according to the mother's post, he participated in the test for this academy. He was getting positive feedback. Then when the coach asked him for his name, which is obviously Egyptian Christian, then the coach told him that he will not he is rejected. After the man posted the story, it got so many attention, so many feedback from different sides. And then later on the club, the Egyptian authorities issued the statements that this was not true, that the kid misunderstood the thing and then they suspended the coach and he was in turn investigation and the player was finally admitted into the team. He got that, he was approved and he was admitted into the team finally after like two days. So since 1990, there was only one famous Egyptian football player who was Christian, who was playing en Al Ahli, which is one of the major football clubs in Egypt. Since then, in 1990s, there is no much Christian Egyptian players who are playing in domestic tournaments and playing also in the national team. The point that people now are speaking about that out loudly.

[Faranak Amidi]

Let's talk about some of the main discriminations that the Christian community have been facing historically and at the moment.

[Ahmed Omar]

We can divide this into a couple of time phases. If we're talking about the current one. We do not have a clear cut sort of discrimination, but definitely there is glass ceiling and there is a couple of incidents that happen every now and then whenever Christians are trying to expand the building of any of their churches. This is most of the time this is causing some hassle, especially if we're talking about rural areas. There are some glass ceilings here and there. But we do not have this sense of systematic discrimination against Christians. The current regime had been very keen during the past 10 or 12 years on showing how supportive he is to the Christians, to the minorities and basically the Christians, because this is one of the pillars that he built his legitimacy on. And the political regime had been very keen on having this representation either in the cabinet or in the ambassador, ambassadors or. And the public figures and spokespersons for the government are ticking this box that Christian representation is there. No one can deny that discrimination is present. But now if we are comparing this to what say, for example, what happened during the 80s, during the flourishing time for the Islamist groups, this is definitely totally different. And even during this phase, between 2014 till 2016, 2017, when the Islamic State was very active and it was even active in Egypt, they were targeting for churches. This have been happening frequently in those three, four years. It was really serious back then. This is not the case anymore. But definitely there is somewhere some discrimination that people can feel, but it's not that on the surface like it used to be before.

[Faranak Amidi]

So the situation in general has improved for the safety and security of the Christian community. But discrimination still, social and cultural discrimination still exists.

[Ko Yu]

Exactly.

[Ahmed Omar]

This is the thing. Yes, yes, exactly. The extremists are still there, but this is. And the social media sphere, nothing on ground.

[Faranak Amidi]

So I just want to stay with Makari Yunan's case a little longer. Then we move to football in general. But Makari Yunan's case, what happened on social media, what kind of reactions did you see and who were the main drivers behind the social media debate?

[Ahmed Omar]

There was so many players, so many different players. If we want to just divide, there was someone would say the mainstream that was condemning and was very much against what happened and saying that this is irrational discrimination. This was a big chunk. This was basically from public figures, from regular users on social media. There was some other voices that were saying that this is the texture of the team and this is an Islamic country. And this team. The point that Egyptian national team, it was called the team Hold Straight because they used to kneel in the Islamic way after they score goals. So they were called the team of believers. This was very common. And every now and then there have been those photos of the coach holding the Muslim holy book, Quran during the matches and for players cite the Quran and praying before matches. So this had been more or less the ambiance or the setup for the Egyptian national team. So it was very much associated with Islamic religion for some time. Some people were using that as a drive as to explain that they should be Muslims, but those were a little bit less in terms of quantity and no public figures were supporting or were having. This time.

[Faranak Amidi]

I was researching for this story and I came across another coach from another team making a statement in Egypt that if you don't, this is an Islamic country and if you don't want to be discriminated against, maybe choose a different name for your children. Did you come across that?

[Ahmed Omar]

Yeah, yeah, I came across that. And actually such statements come most of the time from extremists. It's not the mainstream.

[Faranak Amidi]

So as you mentioned, the national team of Egypt became kind of like this iconic Islamic Muslim team. Where did the Christians stand?

[Ahmed Omar]

Like, this reminds me of the most iconic Christian Egyptian football player who played in the World cup in 1990. His name was Hany Ramzi. He was 100% neutral name. You can never tell from the name if he's Muslim or Christian. The point is, for the past, for saying 25 years, this conversation had been happening behind closed doors to the extent that even in 2018 and 2019, there was a football academy that was called Jesuit in French. It was in Alexandria in northern Egypt. And this academy, I was known that this academy is basically for players, Christian kids who want to get enrolled in professional football. The other thing that actually Makati was lucky for that. Currently, during maybe the last 10 years, the social and economical category that have been looking for and trying to get into the football academies had a little bit changed. This was not the typical social and Economical classes that used to apply and used to try to get admitted into the football clubs before. So now with this change happening, someone would say that those classes, they cannot tolerate discrimination, maybe like other less fortunate classes during the past years. So this in addition to the support of the regime, in addition to the social media, all those made Makari very much lucky compared to other players who maybe may have faced. Definitely we don't have an accurate number.

[Faranak Amidi]

A cultural change is happening, slowly brewing.

[Ahmed Omar]

Exactly. So this is not the spike of the wave. Actually, this is the wave at least moving a little bit in the right direction.

[Faranak Amidi]

So tell me Ahmed, about the importance of academies when it comes to football. Why are they so important and why is it so important for people to get into these academies before entering professional football?

[Ahmed Omar]

Egypt is more or less a poor country, we have to admit that. And the poverty rates in Egypt is significantly high. It's moving downwards, but still significantly high. And one of the profitable professions is football player, especially for those who do not have academic qualifications that may enable them to go into the labor force market. So many families are looking that their kids can get good profession and good career if they manage to start playing football. So the golden gate to be enrolled in the teams that will be playing in major tournaments is those academies. So say for example 5000 players will be admitting, only 40 will be admitted into the teams. So it is very critical for so many families that see that this is the way for their kids to pursue their passion for football or even to try to achieve some sort of social and economical upgrade in the community. So it is important, especially in rural areas and outside of Cairo. This is seriously important.

[Faranak Amidi]

Thank you very much Ahmed. Thanks to Ahmed Omar from BBC Arabic. You are listening to the documentary from the BBC World Service.

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[Faranak Amidi]

This is the fifth floor and I'm Farnaikami D.

[Wang Zibing]

If I lower my head, it's certainly not because of the fruits on the ground, but because of my gratitude for others.

[Faranak Amidi]

This is Wang Zibing, a Chinese food delivery writer in his 50s. He's also a poet.

[Wang Zibing]

I have ridden 150,000km and written 5,000 poems. Today I want to share my poem with you.

[Faranak Amidi]

Wang has found a huge online following in China and beyond with his reflective poems capturing his daily life. Now he's won one of China's top literary prizes. After growing up poor and doing many different jobs, Wang became a food Delivery Writer in 2019. He often scribbles poems on scraps of paper between deliveries. But the prize he's won is named after poet Liu Xun, seen by many as the father of Chinese literature. Ko yu from the BBC's Hong Kong bureau came into the fifth floor studio to tell us his story.

[Ko Yu]

So Wang Qibing is the latest literary sensation in China right now. So he's a 56 year old food delivery writer who was born in a rural village in Jiangsu Province, eastern China. He did not finish middle school before he left to start working. In his life, he's dabbled in various odd jobs, things like construct work. At one point he scavenged for waste and then for some time he was also selling things from a street stall. Around 2019, he became a food delivery rider at a time when the industry was really booming and people saw it as a way to, you know, make money while also maintaining some control over your time.

[Faranak Amidi]

And that was during the COVID breakout? Yeah, that was.

[Ko Yu]

Yes. So it came at a time where the services of these food delivery riders were especially important because people didn't necessarily want to or could leave their houses because of the pandemic.

[Faranak Amidi]

And tell me about his poetry. What is his poetry about and what inspires him?

[Ko Yu]

So he draws a lot of inspiration for his poetry from his daily life. One of his most famous poems, the one that made him viral in 2022 is called Men in a Hurry. And that was inspired by this particularly difficult delivery that he had. And that really resonated with a lot of people when he posted his poem online.

[Wang Zibing]

Driving wind from the air, Driving blades from the wind. Driving fire from the bone, Driving water from the fire. Those in a hurry have no seasons, Only this stop and the next. The world is a place name, and so is Wang Xiang Village. Every day I encounter one after another sprinting delivery rider, pounding the earth with their feet, Constantly being tempered in this mortal world.

[Faranak Amidi]

So can you tell us a little bit more about the story behind this poem?

[Ko Yu]

Right, so the story behind this poem came from this particularly memorable and tragic story. Tragic delivery he had in 2019. He spent hours trying to find the delivery address for this food delivery he had, and he could not. He ran something like 18 floors trying to get to the address and kept getting the wrong house. And it turned out to be because his customer had filled in the wrong address in the app.

[Widely Chibilushi]

Wow.

[Ko Yu]

So when he finally got to the correct house, the person who opened the door was this young guy who looked really annoyed and frustrated. And the young guy said something to him like, if you are so old at your age, if you're still doing delivery, you must be really dumb. And that incident really stayed with him as a delivery rider. There's something like millions of them in China, and they make up really the fabric of cities across the country. But these are often anonymous people who are scrambling around and trying to chase deliveries for pittance and kind of. And being seen as subhuman almost.

[Faranak Amidi]

So, Ko Yu, can you tell me, who do you think his poetry resonates with in China?

[Ko Yu]

His poetry has resonated across China, really. He's read by regular people in China, not just. Just blue collar workers like himself, but also office workers. And I think a big part of that is because food delivery riders, they obviously work really hard and have really tight deadlines to meet. But when you look at the broader China, there's a really grueling work culture over there where there's this thing called996, where people are expected to work 9am to 9pm Six days a week. From that, you can kind of see that there's a lot of pressure to really commit yourself to work and outperform your fellow employees. A lot of young Chinese especially feel like they are trapped in a rat race. They don't see hope in their future. They feel like even though they have been studying really hard, outdoing their classmates they that does not necessarily guarantee them a good job. And this has become especially a dominant sentiment given China's economic slowdown and high youth and unemployment rates. Which is why when people read about the kind of desperation and hopes that Wang writes about, it has particularly resonated with them.

[Faranak Amidi]

And tell me more about this prize. What would it mean for him? What would the prize do for him?

[Ko Yu]

So the price does come with cash. The exact amount is unclear for this round of the price, but as far as we know in the past it has been around US$15,000. That's about £11,000. So that's quite a bit of money for a food delivery rider. And the truth is that since he went viral a few years ago, his finances has really turned around. He now owns, he now runs a little grocery shop with his wife, but he has continued to do food deliveries on the site while also paying more attention and committing more time to his riding.

[Faranak Amidi]

Do you know if he wants to continue the food delivery or not?

[Ko Yu]

That's interesting because you would think given the freedom now to pursue writing full time or, you know, do some other job, he has actually said that he would continue to be a delivery rider. He thinks that it's something that, you know, he's used to doing every day. You know, he doesn't necessarily have to stop just because he has gained some kind of recognition.

[Faranak Amidi]

Yeah. Well, also, it seems that the job inspires him, so why not?

[Ko Yu]

It does. I mean, for his latest poetry collection, the award winning month, he actually interviewed something like more than 100 delivery writers. So it's not just, just his own experience that you're reading about. It's these little anecdotes, voices, the hopes and thoughts of delivery riders around China, really.

[Wang Zibing]

Rivers are water and so are rain and snow. It's one reason I love the world. The sunrise is light and so is the candle flame. It's a nice another reason I love the world.

[Ko Yu]

Wow.

[Faranak Amidi]

Best of luck to Wang. Thank you so much.

[Widely Chibilushi]

Ko you.

[Ko Yu]

Thank you.

[Faranak Amidi]

Thanks, ko Yu from BBC's Hong Kong bureau and to David Holt for reading Wang's poems. That's all we've got time for today. If you want to let us know what you think about the show or you have questions for us, send an email to the 5th floorbc.co.uk we love hearing from you. You can write to us at the fifth floor. All1WordBC.co.uk. This is the documentary from the BBC World Service.

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