Music, more than a product or anything else, is a sacred act. That’s the prevailing premise of director Contessa Gayles’ award-winning Songs From The Hole, a 90-minute documentary on Netflix that highlights Long Beach native, artist and activist James “JJ’88” Jacobs’ evolution from a wayward 15-year-old who committed a murder into a beacon of what he calls the “utility of nonviolence, art to tell stories, and being vulnerable.” In the documentary, which won 10 awards on the 2024 film festival circuit, Gayles expertly weaves jailhouse phone calls with JJ’88 with a visual album that he crafted in prison, as well as a harrowing fly-on-the-wall chronicle of how his family supported him throughout his incarceration and repeated attempts at freedom.

JJ’88 was freed from prison in 2022 aft

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