'Make Dynamic Music to Move the World'—an Icon's Parting Words to His Incarcerated Protégés

In celebration of the finale of our Track Change podcast, our founder and executive producer sat down with the host, Speech Thomas, for a conversation about music, jail and hope.

Images courtesy Resonant Pictures

Hi, everyone. Today’s a big day at Narratively. We released the final episode of Track Change, our five-part documentary podcast that follows Grammy-winning musician Speech Thomas of Arrested Development — known to many as the “Godfather of Conscious Hip-Hop” — into Virginia’s Richmond City Jail to record an album with four incarcerated men, inside a makeshift recording studio. I decided it was only fitting to give Speech the last word about a project that means so much to him and to which he’s dedicated so many years of his life. I hope you enjoy it, and that you’ll listen to Track Change if you haven’t yet!

Noah: Speech! Here we are, our Track Change podcast is fully out in the world and we’re getting a phenomenal response. Congratulations! For me personally, it feels like we’ve just finished a marathon, since we first began developing the podcast four years ago. But you were involved in this project years before that, back when you were shooting the documentary film that inspired it inside the Richmond City Jail. What’s going through your mind right now? What does it mean to you to have taken the project this far and in so many directions, over the better part of a decade? 

Speech: It’s been an amazing journey. To me, it’s about making the most of every opportunity to get these men’s voices heard. These four men are sharing their raw and uncut stories about our country’s prison system, the conditions that brought them to those cells and the challenges of addiction. All of this through music, and allowing us access. The public has a rare chance to listen and learn from the front lines.

Noah: Do you remember what your immediate reaction was when it was first proposed that you record music inside a jail? Were you nervous? Scared? Reluctant? 

Speech: I was all of the above. I had been inside prisons before, but every situation is different and you never know how receptive a group of people are going to be. At the end of the day, I had to simplify the whole thing... I am who I am, I care about these men, let me serve and see what happens.

Noah: You’ve made music with such a diverse and eclectic range of people over your career, but doing so inside a jail with incarcerated individuals, all of whom are shadowed by issues like trauma, addiction and recidivism, surely presented its own unique challenges and revelations for you. Can you share some of the highs and lows? 

Speech: The low is seeing how hard it is to get out of the cycles of addiction and recidivism. The system is primarily designed for people to fail, not win. The highs are seeing these men inspire so many people around the country. So many families that are also affected by the prison industrial complex, they see familiarity and hope through these men.  

Noah: Talk to me about the music you produced. Personally, I can’t listen to Teddy Jackson’s song “Inspire” without getting goosebumps. All of the tracks are so good! And so meaningful and haunting, yet full of hope. You’re surely a bit biased, given your creative partnership with the men and the strong personal connection you formed with them, but would you critique the music for me? For us non-professional musicians, what kind of talent are we talking about here? What sort of potential do they have? 

Speech: Teddy’s “Inspire” is on the level of Tupac and it’s because it’s the highest aspirations of a man that’s seen it all and done it all. It’s pure poetry from a true street poet. Anthony and Devonte’s rhymes are the perfect example of men rapping to make sense of their hard, complex and emotional lives. It’s the essence of what hip-hop should be about. I’ve always felt that Garland is a bona fide country superstar! He’s the total package.

Noah: What do you hope listeners get out of our show? 

Speech: I want people to be able to listen on their ride to work and be transported into the lives of four men that they would have never known otherwise. And then transformed. 

Noah: Are there any outtakes — funny stories, revelatory moments — that didn’t make it into the podcast that you still think about? 

Speech: The podcast actually reveals so many rare and special moments that the original movie [the documentary film 16 Bars, which inspired our podcast] couldn’t do because of time.

Noah: Do you have a message for Teddy, Garland, Anthony and Devonte? 

Speech: For Teddy: You are an amazing person and artist with unlimited potential, I believe in you. You can rebuild your life to be exactly what you’ve always dreamed, you have God, your family and all your former experiences as your guide. 

Garland, I look forward to you becoming a country music star! Get counseling and therapy to make sense of your journey and simultaneously make dynamic music for the world to be moved. I believe in you.

Anthony and Devonte, you both deserve another chance to flourish. Leave the environments that bring you down and embrace new environments that bring you joy! Get therapy to work out the kinks and trauma. I believe in you. 

Noah: What about for readers who might be coping with their own unique issues, or approaching their own difficult crossroads in life? How might music or other forms of art and expression help them? 

Speech: Music is a pathway to inner peace. Let music wash over your pains, let it guide you to your higher self.

Noah: Where do you see the podcast going from here? Would you be interested in recording music with individuals in other jails, prisons or other untraditional settings?

Speech: I’m excited that people are getting so much from it. At the end of the day, I’m all about serving, so if other opportunities arise to do that — I’m forever going to consider it! 

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. 

Listen to Track Change, including our final episode, at NPR, Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Noah Rosenberg is the founder and CEO of Narratively.