THIS GIVING TUESDAY LET’S LOOK AT YOUR IMPACT 🫵🏾
FREER Family,
As we close out this year, I’ve been reflecting on what FREER Records has built — not just in terms of projects, but in terms of people, truth, and the space we’re carving out for stories that were never supposed to survive the system. This year was a reminder that what we do matters because our artists matter. Their voices are living proof that creativity can grow in concrete, that humanity doesn’t disappear behind a DOC number, and that art is still one of the most powerful forms of freedom-making we have. Heres a timeline of ALL our work this year you’ve been funding! Thank you. Again and again. Let’s do this for another year! PLEASE DONATE TODAY!
Fury and BL at the InThrive Film Festival in Richmond VA, where we screened and performed all weekend!
2025 Milestones
January 17 – We release “I Can’t Lie” by B. Alexis. This song was written in dedication to her son, who was murdered in 2024. We released the song on his birthday. LONG LIVE LOE DRXP 🕊️🩷
February 20th - We release the “I Can’t Lie” remix featuring Poison Ivy, Lil Boosie’s daughter, who has also been impacted by her father’s incarceration.
January 31 – We close out our multimedia art exhibit at Picto NY with a bang - another open mic! The exhibit featured music, visual art, and storytelling reflecting prison music’s history, present, and future.
March 7 – We lost our matriarch and superstar, Simply Naomi. Her debut LP was in the works prior to her falling ill. It is back in production for 2026.
March 14 – We release the “Gendercide” music video by Blak Rapp Madusa, the first single off Steel Roots.
March 19 - We launch FREER Music Distribution — a new wing of the organization distributing music and administering publishing for prison-impacted musicians at no upfront cost (invite only).
March 29 – We expand our multimedia world and pushed through milestones that were once dreams. We brought Spoon Jackson’s album to life via a visual album created alongside a diverse team of filmmakers. At the premiere, we also launched a petition for Spoon to be commuted before he serves his 50th year in the penitentiary. SIGN IT PLEASE!
BL with several of the filmmakers who attended Spoon’s premiere
April 4 – We release “Hands Up” by Prince Jooveh via FREER music - the first single from Bending The Bars.
April 11 – We release “Before I Leave This World of mine” by POETIC PROPHET 4262 x Bending The Bars.
April 18 – We distribute “PTSD” by Larrypak x Bending The Bars.
April 22 – We release an interview with Lady Lifer Dannielle Hadley to support her commutation efforts. She was commuted two months later after serving 37 years in prison.
April 24 – We release our 2024 Annual Report.
April 25 – We distribute “Locked Down” by Chance x Bending The Bars and “Reflections From Inside A Cement Box” by David Annarelli featuring Marta Sanchez.
May 2 – We distribute “8th Floor” by Kashdat x Bending The Bars.
May 9 – We distribute “Barbie Rockstar” by Chuckie Lee x Bending The Bars.
May 15 – BL Shirelle speaks at the Tell Them We Are Rising graduation for the Restorative & Transitional Services cohort at PICC (Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center).
May 16 – We distribute “dangeRUSH” by Corvette Cal x Bending The Bars.
May 18 – We host artwork in the Dismantling Cages: Abolition in LA & Beyond exhibit.
June 8 – Lady Lifer Dannielle Hadley is officially RELEASED!
June 11 – FREER Music distributes its first LP, the Bending The Bars album from Broward County Jail.
July 4 Weekend – BL and filmmaker Teddy Rex King travels to South Carolina to film for B. Alexis’ visual album 9th & Gasoline.
July 18 – We release “Promise You This” by BL Shirelle & Blak Rapp Madusa, the second single off Steel Roots.
August 4–5 – We shoot music videos in Philly with formerly incarcerated actors for B. Alexis’ visual album 9th & Gasoline, directed by BL Shirelle.
September 6 – We distribute “Momma Love” by Jahtice Ahdair, a recently released musician who lost his mother while incarcerated.
September 12 – BL Shirelle performs an Assata Troi Anniversary show at the historic Essex Market in Lower East Side, NYC.
September 14 – “Headed to the Streets” screens at the Ridgewood Off-kilter Film Festival
September 22 – We release “Go” by BL Shirelle & Blak Rapp Madusa, the last single off Steel Roots.
October 3–6 – We exclusively sneak peak premiere 9th & Gasoline at the Inthrive Music Festival, a festival for formerly incarcerated filmmakers. We also screened several music videos, DJCX: How We Got FREER, and closed out the weekend with a musical performance from BL.
October 16 – Release the full Steel Roots EP by BL Shirelle & Blak Rapp Madusa.
October 21 – We make big headway on our 2026-2028 Strategic Plan during our last Board Meeting of the year.
October 29 – Our Board of Directors votes unanimously to bring on activist/youth mentor Raphael “Roc” Jefferson and jazz musician/activist Caroline Davis onto our board.
November 25 – Philly premiere of the Steel Roots Visual EP, a multimedia documentary featuring music videos and oral history surrounding the historic passing of the Dignity Act of PA.
Looking Ahead to 2026
One thing’s for sure — we’re NOT slowing down.
I think it’s important to show you all what you have made possible. As you can see - we have a full year of real work under our belt here at FREER. We’re a small staff and it’s been an incredible 2025! LET’S KEEP GOING PLEASE!
In 2026, we’re expanding screenings for Steel Roots, pushing 9th & Gasoline into the world with the force it deserves, and building more opportunities for currently and formerly incarcerated artists to record, perform, learn, and be celebrated. We’re strengthening our reentry support and deepening our partnerships with educators, organizers, and institutions who understand that mass incarceration is not abstract — it’s personal, communal, and ongoing.
This movement isn’t powered by corporations or millionaires. It’s powered by people like you — people who believe that talent behind the wall is still talent, that a story from prison carries the same artistic weight as a story from any stage or gallery, and that humanity doesn’t expire because someone fell through the cracks of the system.
Your support is the difference between a voice being silenced and a voice being amplified. Between an artist remaining invisible and an artist reaching thousands. Between another year of missed opportunities and a year full of breakthroughs.
If FREER Records has impacted you — if you’ve felt the power of any of these stories — I’m asking you to stand with us again this Giving Tuesday. Every donation helps us keep recording, teaching, creating, filming, advocating, and opening doors for artists who’ve been told their whole lives that those doors don’t belong to them.
Thank you for believing in this work. Thank you for believing in us. And most of all, thank you for believing in the artists whose truth keeps this mission alive.