BL Shirelle
Co-Executive Director (she/her)
Musician and activist BL Shirelle is the Co-Executive Director of FREER Records, the first non-profit record label for currently and formerly incarcerated artists in United States history.
Her label debut solo album “Assata Troi”, which she also Executive Produced, garnered critical acclaim from Los Angeles Times, Pitchfork, NPR, Passion of Weiss, BBC, Interview Magazine and Philadelphia Inquirer, among others. “Assata Troi” is an epic fusion of hard-hitting poetry, rap, and R&B with a gritty rock edge.
When BL was released from Pennsylvania prison in December 2015, she hit the ground running. Within a few years she had released two mixtapes, contributed vocals and lyrics for the Die Jim Crow EP, and had been featured in Rolling Stone.
As FR, then DJC, grew into a non-profit and eventually a record label, BL joined the board, engaged in the label’s strategic planning, and developed a clear leadership role within the organization.
For three years serving as our founding Deputy Director, BL harnessed her skills as an administrator and manager, with a natural talent for engaging fans and supporters, executive producing albums, and strengthening programming with our constituents.
In 2022, BL was appointed Co-Executive Director of FR, where she leads the label’s communications and development, while sharing programming duties with her Co-ED, Fury Young.
BL has Executive Produced albums from Lifers Groove, a group of prison-impacted elders, which was featured in The Marshall Project and Mission Magazine’s 10th Anniversary Music Issue. She is also Executive Producing albums with B. Alexis and Dallas the dove x ms. Seeley, as well as working on her next solo record.
BL Shirelle has been a guest speaker at Augustana University, Stockton University, Goucher University, and Susquehanna University and is a teacher assistant at Yale Divinity School of Music and Wesleyan University.
She produced, wrote and performed a musical monologue with Simply Naomi, entitled “Troubled Waters” in Palermo, Sicily in conjunction with GAP, and has lit up stages at Roulette Intermedium, MoMA PS 1, and at DJC virtual performances during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic to raise funds for PPE Into Prisons alongside such acts as DIIV, Eve 6, Hurray For The Riff Raff and Shamir, among others.
In 2024, after a decade of Die Jim Crow, the label evolved into FREER Records. BL continues her role as Co-Executive Director, as we expand our creative future.
