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Raised in Camden NJ, Maxwell Melvins became incarcerated, in 1980, at the Albert C. Wagner Youth Correctional Facility in Bordentown NJ. He was convicted for the accidental homicide of his childhood friend. After a short time at Bordentown he was transferred to the Trenton State Prison, where he remained for 7 years.

While in Trenton Maxwell put in an application for transfer to Rahway prison. He knew they had a lot of programs, and he was looking for a constructive way to occupy his time while serving a life sentence. In 1987 there was an incident at Rahway that caused about 20 inmates to be transferred to Trenton. To make space for that influx into Trenton some inmates were transferred out to other prisons. Maxwell was sent to Rahway. In 1976 a group of Rahway inmates serving sentences of 25 years to life created the Lifers Group. Their purpose was to provide information and support to inmates serving life sentences. They early on expanded their scope with the creation of their now well known Juvenile Awareness Program, which was the subject of the 1978 documentary Scared Straight, created by Arnold Schapiro. In 1988 Maxwell interviewed with the screening committee to join the Lifers Group. He was interested in the fundraising and the business practices that supported their programs. At that time the message of the Juvenile Awareness Program was about self-control and resistance to the medias glamorization of incarceration. In 1989 Maxwell presented to the Lifers Group his idea for putting their message into the form of rap music. Maxwell often saw the young people in the Juvenile Awareness Program, and many of the newly incarcerated young men, listening to and talking about rap music. Maxwell thought they’d more deeply ingest the Lifers Group message if it was in the form of a music that the youth were already invested in. Through some business connections Maxwell already had in place he got in touch with a Disney subsidiary record label called Hollywood Basic. Once that connection was made the Lifers Group music project rocketed to global success. One of their music videos was nominated for a grammy in 1992, competing against Madonna, Billy Joel, Peter Gabriel, and Sinead O’Connor. The Hollywood Basic record producer, David Funkenklein, led the music operation from outside the prison. Maxwell led the operation from inside the prison. This included auditioning performers, financial management, and fundraising. The Lifers Group were a 501(c)3. In 1993 Maxwell was transferred out of Rahway prison. The prison claimed there was a threat to Maxwell’s life due to jealousy from corrections officers and other inmates. The record producer at Hollywood Basic passed away in 1994 due to spinal cancer. Due to the separation of Maxwell and David the Lifers Group music project lost it’s leadership and came to an abrupt end. Between 1993 and 2011 Maxwell was moved to a few other prisons. During that time he continued to connect with community groups to spread the message of avoiding incarceration. Through his ongoing efforts Maxwell was able to get in touch with the Smithsonian Museum of American History, who in 2006 collected some of the Lifers Group memorabilia that Maxwell had retained. Those objects are now part of the Smithsonian’s hiphop collection. In 2011 Maxwell was transferred to a halfway back program. In 2012 he was officially released, and put on parole. A few months after being released from prison Maxwell was hit in a car accident, which caused injury to his vertebrae. He’s still able to walk, talk, and move fine. Since being released he’s been contacted by a few individuals who have worked with him on small projects to get his story out into the public.

 Press Activity 

Magazines, News Papers, Radio and T.V. INTERVIEWS, 1990 through 1993:

RADIO INTERVIEWS:

TDK MUSIC REPORT INTERVIEW - AIRED ON OVER 250 COLLEGE RADIO STATIONS THROUGHOUT UNITED STATES AND CANADA AUGUST 8, 1991

LOS ANGELES, WITH MOTHER LOVE 1990

INTERVIEW BY W.D.A.S RADIO WITH MATTIE HUMPHY SHOW 1990;

NEWS PAPERS, AND MAGAZINES INTERVIEWS, BETWEEN 1990 THROUGH 1993;

NEW JERSEY STAR LEDGER: BY: YVETTE MENDEZ 8/5/93;

PRISON LIFE MAGAZINE: AWARE NOT SCARED - BY: JANE DAVIS JULY 1993;

BLACK RADIO EXCLUSIVE MAGAZINE: BY: LARRIAN FLORES, MAY 7, 1993;

PRISON LIFE MAGAZINE: BY: LANE BARNHOLTZ, MARCH 1993;

STEPPING OUT MAGAZINE: INTERVIEW BY: CHAUNCE HAYDEN; JAN 14-20,

DOWN TOWN MAGAZINE: ISSUE #NO 306 THRU NOVEMBER, 18 1992;

FOR WOMEN FIRST- MAGAZINE: 10/19/92;

RAP SHEET: AS HARDCORE AS YOU CAN GET, BY: JAMES MOSLEY, JULY 1992;

STAR LEDGER: NEWARK, N.J. THE RAP ON PRISON LIFE, BY:JAY LUSTIC, 2/27/92;

NORTH JERSEY HERALD NEWS: BY: PASQUALE DIFULCO, 2/26/1992;

THE RECORD: N.J. SHUTOUT FOR JAILHOUSE RAP, BY LAURENCE CHOLLET, 2/25/92

CHICAGO TRIBUNE: UNCOMMON CRIMINALS, BY: COLUM LYNCH 2/24/92;

TIME MAGAZINE: PEOPLE, BY: MICHAEL QUINN 2/24/92;

THE GRANR RAPIDS PRESS: WORKING ON PRISON VIDEO, BY JOHN D. GONZALEZ, 2/23/92;

BOSTON GLOBE: JAILHOUSE RAP, BY COLUM LYNCH 2/22/92;

NORTH JERSEY HERALD NEWS: BY: PASQUALE DIFULCO, 2/16/1992;

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: NEWS, BY: JEFFREY JOLSON - COLBURN, 2/12/92;

WASHINGTON POST: THE RELIABLE SOURCE, BY: LOIS ROMANO 2/12/1992;

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: APPLE SAUCE, BY: PATRICIA O’HARE, 1/7/92;

BLACK RADIO EXCLUSIVE MAGAZINE: RAP-PROFILE BY: LARRIAN FLORES, 1991;

SURFE & STREET MAGAZINE: TOKYO - JAPAN - 1991:

SPICE MAGAZINE: THE TRUTH ABOUT PRISON, BY: GILBERT NICOLETTA, 1991;

THE INQUIRER PHILADELPHIA: RAPPING ON THE BARS, BY: KEVIN CARTER, 1991;

INPRESS MAGAZINE: PRISON BEAST, BY: ANDREW MAST, 7/31/91;

BLACK ART & DANCE MAGAZINE: GERMANY, BY: HOLGER TRUE, JULY/AUGUST 1991;

HOME NEWS: NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ. BY: RICHARD  SKELLY, 7/14/91

HERALD SUN NEWS PAPER: Page 5 JULY 18, 1991:

BIG RED NEWS: BROOKLYN, IN THE BELLY OF THE BEAST, BY: STEVEN STANCELL, 6/15/91;

THE GAVIN REPORT: DROPPING THE REAL DEAL INSIDE, BY: STAVEY E. HOLMES 6/14/91;

THE SOURCE MAGAZINE: LIFERS’S GROUP, BY: ROB TEWLOW, JUNE 1991;

SPIN MAGAZINE: JAIL HOUSE RAP, BY: MARK BLACKWELL, MAY 19, 1991;

HARD REPORTS: MEDFORD LAKES, NJ BY: PAULA SPAN, WASHINGTON POST WRITER 5/3/91;

THE BOSTON HERALD HERALD: RAP BEHIND BARS, 4/22/91;

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: NO WAY TO BEAT THEIR RAP, BY: DAVID HINKLY, 4/17/91;

LOS ANGELES TIMES: CALENDER: POP MUSIC, BY: PATRICK GOLDSTEIN, 4/14/91;

THE KNOXVILLE NEWS - SENTINEL: MUSIC BY: WAYNE BLEDSO, 3/3/91:

SECONDS MAGAZINE: THE REAL DEAL, BY: CARLO McCORMICK 1991;

ASBURY PARK PRESS: LIFERS’ SHOCK RAP TO TEENS, BY: DANIEL LEDUC, 10/20/1990

TIME MAGAZINE: JAILHOUSE ROCKEFELLERS, BY: BARBARA CORNELL, 10/12/1990;

TELEVISIONS INTERVIEWS:

WBZ-TV-BOSTON: RAP AROUND, WITH SUZI LADOLPHI, LOCK UP WITH LIFERS, AIRed 4/4/92;

FEATURED ON SCRATH: AIRED ON WNBC-NEW YORK 1992;

WBZ-TV-NEWS: BOSTON - INTERVIEW, 1992;

CNN - NEWS: 1992;

NEW JERSEY NETWORK NEWS: WITH SANDRA KING WEEK OF FEBRUARY 28, 1992;

UNIVISION TELIVISION: NOTICIA E MAS - WITH CELNIA BELTRI 2/28/92;

ABC 20/20: GRAMMYS - INTERVIEW - WITH TOM GERALD 2/28/92;

ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHTL FEBRUAR 28, 1992;

MANHATTAN CABLE: #6 1991;

VIDEO MUSIC BOX: WITH - RALPH MCDANIELS, 1991;

RSVP-DAILY: MUCH MUSIC CANADA JULY 9, 1991;

SOUND BYTES: #4 - WITH ROCCO FISCH 4/18/1991;

BBC REPORTAGE SHOW: CHANEL 4 LONDON 1991;

WUABC NEWS NEW YORK: WITH MIKE TAHIBI 1991;

WCBS TV NEW YORK: CHANNEL 2 NEWS - INTERVIEW WITH - DANA TYLER, 1991;

SUBURBAN CABLE: CHANNEL 3, AROUND THE WEEK OF JANUARY 20/26

WITH JOE TRUNCALE - LIVE PERFORMANCE: 1991;

KYW CHANNEL 3 NEW WITH PAT CHIRACHI, 1990;

NEW JERSEY NETWORK NEWS  - WITH SCOTT MONIAK 1990;

MTV NEWS: 1990;

A CURRENT AFFAIR:  - 1990;

Maxwell Melvins, participated in the making and filming of LIFERS GROUP, Music Video Titled “SHORT LIFE OF A GANGSTA” which was the first single to be released off LP “LIVING PROOF” January 1993;

Maxwell Melvins, participated in the making and filming of LIFERS GROUP, recording of their full length LP, Titled: “LIVING PROOF” Which weaves a true tale of what really happens to a so-called Gangsta’S. It deals with the real pitfalls and consequences of what being a gangsta will get you - in jail, or six-feet-deep. June 11, 1992 through June 26, 1992;

Maxwell Melvins, began Negotiation with Hollywood Records, Concerning their support of the 100,000 production cost for the recording of the Lifers Group, second CD’ “LIVING PROOF” And Music-Video, “SHORT LIFE OF A GANGSTA” May of 1992, through June of 1992;

Maxwell Melvins, participated in the documentary, (TURNED AROUND) PRODUCED BY: VIDEOLINE / CORNET / MTI: This exceptional program is ideal for school guidance personnel, Juvenile Counselors and Social Services Agencies who work with troubled Youths. It provides young people with a brief taste of prison life through the Juvenile Awareness Program put on by the Lifers Group, Through This Documentary we deliver important messages to young people at-risk of imprisonment: We wanted to show them how everyone has the power to be what they want, and the life they may save may be their own. No matter  what their problems, and we wanted to help young people at-risk to search for positive ways to solve them. Filmed November of 1991 through February 22, 1992;

Maxwell Melvins, participated in (LEARN THE TRUTH AT THE EXPENSE OF OUR SORROW_ PRODUCED BY: VIDEOLINE-CORNET-MTI: THE Documentary was based on the book by Richard Wormser, and how every over 2,000 troubled teens were brought to East Jersey State Prison to meet the Lifers Group and attend the Juvenile Awareness Program, The Lifers, men serving life terms for their crimes, provide a very real look at the future that may await many of the programs teenage participants - - - unless they straighten up. We filmed from November 23, 1991 through 12/23/91 through February 22, 1992;

Maxwell Melvins, participated with the Office Of The State’ Attorney, Cook County Illinois, In the production of (CHOOSE NOT TO LOSE) an Educational-Video depicting the dangers of drug use and gang involvement that would be distributed at no cost to schools, community groups and police agencies. In an attempt to de-glamorize the “Mystery” surrounding drugs and gangs. January of 1992;

Maxwell Melvins, along with members of the LIFERS GROUP, received The “Southern Christian Leadership National Humanitarian Award” Awarded for the unique circumstances and extraordinary work for the good of Humanity, dated August 1, 1991;

Maxwell Melvins, participated in then additional filming for “LIFERS GROUP WORLDTOUR RAHWAY PRISON THAT’S IT” LONG FORM MUSIC-VIDEO-DOCUMENTARY, December of 1990 through January 1991;

 Awards 

Southern Christian Leadership Conference National Humanitarian Award 1991

 External Links 

Interview on 20/20 News Show in 1991