THRU THE VENT: Rrome Alone
“In the penitentiary, much time is spent ‘locked down’ due to lack of staff, solitary confinement, shakedowns, and a host of other factors. Those in lockdown units – confined to their cells all day – often use the ventilation system to communicate. Speaking about everything from family secrets, personal history, to one’s future, through a vent is where we shared what was on our hearts and minds. This is no different. I present to you… THRU THE VENT.”
Curated & Co-Written by BL Shirelle.
THRU THE VENT is a series made up of lived experiences from prison-impacted people — musicians and non-musicians alike — where they share their triumphs, tragedies, and everything in between. This is a judgment free zone. Some stories will be triumphant, some will be heartbreaking, they will all be nothing more than human.
“Live On Death Row”
My name is MICHAEL JEROME BRAXTON. I am a Death Row prisoner who has been incarcerated for over 30 years, but to hip hop audiences I am known as the recording artist Rrome Alone.
In 2016, a student at Duke University named Michael Betts recorded me reading a monologue over the phone for a project sponsored by Hidden Voices called “Serving Life.” Two years later after reading an article in Rolling Stone about the online music platform SoundCloud I reached out to Michael Betts again and asked him if he would record me rapping over the phone and post my a cappella lyrics on SoundCloud. He agreed and after 100 plays in the first week we continued recording each week. People who commented told me that although they really liked the words, what I needed most was a beat!
In 2019, J. Cole hosted his first Dreamville festival in Raleigh, NC right across the street from my Death Row cell. I could hear the sounds bumping through the walls. It was during that festival that I was first inspired to use rap as a vehicle to try and generate attention for innocent people on Death Row, starting with my close friend Stacy “Sabur” Tyler.
A month later I read an article in the News & Observer about a music professor at UNC-Chapel Hill named Mark Katz who was using his “Beat Lab'' to allow producers to teach kids how to make beats. I wrote and told him about the acapellas I'd been posting on SoundCloud and asked if he would introduce me to some producers. He wrote back and connected me with the New York producer named Nick Neutronz who has worked with Eminem in the past. Nick was willing to help me with some beats free of charge and after a few months of experimentation, trial and error, we perfected a method that allowed me to listen to his beats through the phone while he recorded me rapping on a separate track. Pretty soon we had a half dozen songs posted on SoundCloud complete with beats.
It was through this body of work that I managed to attract the interest of an independent record label called Nu Revolution Entertainment in late 2020 headed by the highly accomplished Baltimore rapper Wordsmith. He offered me a distribution deal to make my music accessible on all major streaming sites and suggested I start working on my debut single and video idea.
UNC Professor Mark Katz; Rrome Alone
I already had the skeleton for “Live on Death Row” in my notebook but now I needed to flesh it out. With an opportunity to showcase my music as well as the plight of being on Death Row before the public eye, I sprung into action. My goal was much more than entertainment.
I chose the title “Live on Death Row” as a way of showing homage to Mumia Abu Jamal, a former death row prisoner and activist in Pennsylvania, who had a book and radio broadcast entitled “Live from Death Row” in the 80s and 90s. I wanted to channel his spirit as a reporter spotlighting what life is like right at the eye of the storm. I wanted the song to be a sonic hurricane and Nick Neutronz created the perfect energy and sound to create that atmosphere while I wrote bars like chaotic scenes swirling around me like a tornado based on random events I’d actually witnessed on Death Row. I wrote out the idea for the video and a script for Michael Betts and Mark Katz to perform for the song. Wordsmith found a videographer from Greece and my vision was brought to life.
It was epic, and one of my proudest moments. So I introduce you to…”Live From Death Row”...
