Incarcerated Teens Create a Love Song, One Later Killed in a Shooting
Two 17-year-olds in a Birmingham detention center recorded a love song through a prison arts program, and months later one was fatally shot.
Professor Randall Horton, who founded the Radical Reversal initiative that equips correctional facilities with recording studios, guided two 17-year-old detainees, Jacob Crumel (Li Fatt) and Imahd Gee (BabyModd), in creating a love song while they were housed at Jefferson County Youth Detention Center in Birmingham, Alabama. The program encouraged the pair to shift from street-focused rap to a more tender lyrical style, resulting in the track “Righteous Love Song.”
After their release at the start of 2026, Horton helped Crumel attend a poetry reading in Manhattan, an experience Crumel described as unexpected. Four months later, Gee was shot and killed during a dispute at a gas station, an event Horton called avoidable. Crumel now views the song as a memorial to his friend, while other participants continue to listen to the recording daily.
Why it matters
The story shows how arts programs can impact incarcerated youth, even as violence can abruptly end promising lives.
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