Making Music Behind the Wire
Inspired by the 2025 album Bending the Bars, featuring original hip hop tracks by 15 incarcerated artists, this Edovo course (available on prison tablets nationwide!) is designed for both new and experienced writers, songwriters, and musicians. Its goal is to inspire, encourage, and equip incarcerated writers to develop their writing and connect with resources to continue their learning beyond the course. With guest teachers including FREER Records’ BL Shirelle and featured speakers from “Bending the Bars” and beyond, the course offers insight and guidance for writers making music behind the wire.
Bending the Bars is a groundbreaking hip-hop album written and performed by incarcerated artists from Florida’s Broward County Jail that provides a platform for hidden talent and a blueprint for similar projects nationwide.
After taking “Unchained Melodies: Making Music Behind the Wire” students will be able to:
- learn about different organizations that support incarcerated writers
- discuss the history of music produced by incarcerated people
- identify how artists incorporate different themes into their writing
- write an original song and gain new skills in songwriting
This course includes music history, songwriting, critical thinking, and creative writing. Learners practice writing business letters, reading contracts, and gain familiarity with the music industry.
Lessons
Research
One of the goals of this course is to bring together a team to develop a set of resources that can support other educators, activists, and communities in using Edovo courses to connect people on the inside with their loved ones on the outside. If you have an incarcerated loved one and would like to learn more about this project, email Nikki at bendingthebars1312 (at) gmail (dot) com.
CHIP: The Community Hotline for Incarcerated People 