“I don’t know another way to do music outside of telling the truth.”
Born to a God-fearing family in North Long Beach, JJ‘88 has a complicated history that spans music, gangs – and prison.
While his earliest exposure to music was his parents Gospel records, he plotted ways to get access to forbidden secular music that his pastor father deemed “worldly,” doing what kids do and defying that by taking matters into his own hands.
“I remember being a kid, sneaking into the den behind his chair just so I could watch a Snoop Dogg video,” he recalls.
Like Tha Doggfather himself, a teenage ‘88 found himself torn between his early passion for rap, and the gang culture that engulfed his neighborhood. In one moment, a devastating instance saw the latter win out. At just fifteen years old, ‘88 took the life of another young man. Sentenced to a 40 years-to-life-plus-life, his life – let alone his musical ambition – was halted.
“During my incarceration, I initially didn’t think about music that deeply. I was consumed with facing dying in prison as a child,” he recalls.
When he overheard another incarcerated person banging on their bunk to create an impromptu breakbeat, an impassioned freestyle session followed, and ‘88’s lyrical ability began generating palpable support on the yard – and one endorsement had a sincere impact.
“One of my idols from my city is Tray Deee of Tha Eastsidaz,” ‘88 reveals. “When he was about to be paroled, he called me to his cell to have a conversation, where he said ‘When your work ethic catches up with your talent, you’re going to be unstoppable.'”
This vote of confidence stirred something in ’88 and music transcended hobbyism and became ‘88’s shot at redemption. He wrote constantly, and this helped him vent the thoughts and emotions that he, and the experience of those around him, reflected.
Not the first incarcerated person to find salvation through his pen, his talents have afforded the singer-rapper-songwriter a second shot, that seemed impossible in his early life. Having secured his freedom in 2022, after serving eighteen years in prison, he’s ready to let the world hear his voice.
The songs written behind bars, reflect his own intensely personal journey – but also the communities that he was raised within.
“Atlantic,” his first single post-release, is a bluesy rumination on the avenue that he describes as ‘a main artery of Long Beach.’ On the record he wistfully recalls how it hosts the park he grew up playing in, before cautioning that “there’s a lot of kids like me who grow up on that avenue and have an experience with police and other gang members.”
Watch Atlantic
The follow up “Tribalism” surfaces the stark parallels between gangs and tribal communities. “As a way to de-vilify these human beings. I wanted to chart it back to what I feel they’re trying to tap into, which is their indigenous nature.”
Watch Tribalism
Listen to Hustla’s Lament
’88’s poignant story has become the focal point of a documentary and visual album, Songs From The Hole. Set to music he wrote while in solitary confinement, the film premiered at this year’s SXSW festival and was lauded by Variety as “a deeply affecting experience, both dramatically and musically.”
With plans to release the accompanying soundtrack, titled No Time To Waste, ‘88’s immediate goal is simply to share;
“In prison, we don’t have a lot of possessions. All we have is our thoughts and opinions. On the yard, when the homies give you space to speak or space to share your music – it’s a hallowed experience. My ultimate aspiration is to have that same feeling in freedom, which is to have the space to share with as many people as I can.”
With such a story, and a passion for his message to be heard, we’re certain this is the start of a big year for JJ’88.
Follow him now on Instagram, YouTube and listen now on Spotify.
