The moving documentary-visual album shows how a formerly incarcerated musician used rap to find healing during the darkest time of his life.

Contessa Gayles views James Jacobs' life, imprisonment and dreams of freedom through a music-video lens in this SXSW-premiering documentary. By Daniel Fienberg Chief Television Critic As robust as ...

In "Songs From the Hole," James "JJ '88" Jacobs (portrayed above by Devonte Hoy) chronicles the struggles that led to his incarceration with a staggering visual hip-hop album composed behind bars.

As robust as streaming, premium cable and PBS have made the documentary marketplace in recent years, you wouldn’t be wrong to feel that there’s a glut of similar stories being told in similar ways. If ...