In this issue the San Quentin News introduces a six-part series exploring the role rap music played in the turbulent early lives of many inmates within San Quentin’s walls. For the men who came of age in the late 1980s and ‘90s, gangster rap music filled the void left by their absent fathers and by the socioeconomic conditions in America’s various urban slums. The intro, Is Rap My Daddy?, launches a discussion of just how influential music can be. The “Yard Talk” group will share their insights as prisoners who grew up heavily affected by the genre to analyze:
Part I: Is Rap Music My Daddy? — Was Rap music like a father.
Part II: My Dad’s Influence – Was the influence of rap music positive or negative?
Part III: The Danger of Keeping it Real – How rapper’s self-imposed need to be authentic makes the genre more than just music.
Part IV: All About the Money – How and why money changed rap music from a positive social force to gangster themes
Part V: Can The Trend Be Reversed? – Can rap music become a positive influence again?
Part VI: How We Can Reverse the Trend – Ways rap music can have a positive renewal
The panel members are:
Demond Lewis, 40, is in prison for an attempted murder, assault with a firearm, and ex-felon discharging a gun in a case where he shot the victim in the leg. Under the first Three Strikes law, he was sentenced to 109- to-life.
Antoine Watie, 36, is from Sacramento. He is serving 31-to-life for voluntary manslaughter and related charges.
John “Yahya” Johnson, 43, is from Oakland. He is serving 30 years under the Three Strike law for two robberies. (One robbery counted as more than one strike.)
Richard “Bonaru” Richardson, 42, is from Modesto and used to rap. He is serving 47 years for robbery.
Eric Curtis, 46, is from Compton. He has served 20 years in prison on a 25-to-life sentence for gun possession and a high-speed chase under the Three Strikes law.
David Jassy, 40, is a multi-talented rapper and producer from Stockholm, Sweden, serving life for second degree murder that stemmed from a fistfight.
Antwan Williams, 27, is rapper who is Christian and has the uncanny ability to deliver his truths in a sincere and aggressive way that gives praise to God and is accepted by everyone. He is serving 15 years for kidnap/robbery. (He moved somebody a few feet during a holdup).
J. “Killa Clown” Medvin, 30, is a Caucasian rapper from Santa Rosa.
Marcus Henderson, 42, was sentenced to 100-to-life for murder and remains “unbroken.”
-Trenise Ferreira contributed to this article.
