G. Dep took the stage at New York City’s Merkin Hall on Wednesday (October 28) for “Redemption Songs Live,” a concert centered on music written in prison. The Harlem rapper made a guest appearance before a crowd of more than 400, according to The Marshall Project.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani opened the night, which also featured musicians who had served time. Rapper Izzy Ali performed “State of Emergency,” which he wrote at Sing Sing. Alfred Roberts sang “Victory,” a song he wrote while in prison in New York.
The Kaufman Music Center program paired songs with news reports about the people who made them and the places where they were written. The Marshall Project and Musicambia, a group that teaches music in prisons, put on the event, which used songs, spoken stories, photographs and film. Blues, soul and rap were all part of the night. Its stories reached from the Jim Crow South to today’s ICE detention centers…