This CD was orchestrated and produced by MAMADO when she was incarcerated. It's entitled: TIME CHANGES - PROJECT H.E.R.  While facing charges for her wrong decisions and  some troubles of hanging with the wrong crowd in 2008, MAMADO was incarcerated for 2 years in GASDEN COUNTRY CORRECTIONAL FACILITY.  While serving her time, MAMADO began getting bored, went to a Warden and asked her if she could start a band and build a studio in one of the empty dorms.  The Warden thought it was a great idea since MAMADO began to be a very well liked inmate in the prison with the officers on down to other inmates!  She soon had to be put in a special privilege protected dorm for becoming a well known trustee in the facility.  This also meant she had more freedom to do what she wanted to do!  The Warden told her she would have to go to a higher power to start such program, and of course the request was turned down. Because of the Supreme Court officials saying that Art and Music was prohibited in some prisons.  This was  because victims of the prisoners' crimes were complaining saying prisoners should be punished NOT glorified and having fun.

 

Music and Art always was very therapeutic to MAMADO so she didn't give up.  They were already allowing her to paint art in the prison on canvases in which throughout her sentence she had 75 paintings in the prison, Including the largest mural in the U.S. on the outside of the prison church walls.  She also painted large murals in 12 dorms from Underwater habitat on the walls to tropical forests and beaches.  When prisoners awake to this types of scenery, it made their time of incarceration a lot easier.  The Warden had gotten authorization to start a prison band from another one of MAMADO’s request which was a lot easier to get authorized. A bulletin was put out all over the prison that they were holding an audition to start a band.  Once officials went through all of the request forms, only a chosen few made it to the audition.  Soon the prison was sent an authorized music teacher, MR PAYNE, to hold the audition.  He was one of the male Warden's brother.  When the  audition was finally held, all inmates were called out from there dorms. To everyone's surprise when entering the room, all types of brand new equipment were donated to the prison from people on the outside!  They had gotten word about the prison starting a band! Soon thereafter, MAMADO & MR PAYNE became the best of friends and he would do things for her that eventually  jeopardized his position and career as a music teacher of the prison!  When MR PAYNE started the audition, he saved MAMADO til last because of what the Wardens had told him about her.  Once he called MAMADO to the front he says, "so I heard you play all instruments and know how to set up a stage"?  She said, "yes".  He says, "well I'm going to have a seat with everyone and I want you to set all this equipment up that was donated to the prison". She  looked at him, smirked and said,"no problem". 

 

MAMADO  went to work and in less than an hour every microphone were on the stands, keyboard, guitars, amplifiers, and drums were fully set up.  Then she turned to him and said, "okay I'm bouta sit down and you can come have the honors of checking everything out to make sure it all works"!  To his surprise and all the inmates that had auditioned were shocked!   He said she was an amazing individual and asked her was she an artist because the requested paperwork said she could sing also! She told him yes and asked he her to sing a song of her choice for everyone.  Little did he know she had a soul album out on the streets and she was very well known on the music scene in her city JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA.  So she told him she only sung original material that she has written on her album that's out.  Again he was amazed!  She asked him, "if I give you the notes of the song would you play it for me while I play the guitar?"  He smiled and told her of course!  He was left him astonished and in shocked to see such talent from a female prisoner!  The band went well after choosing several very talented female inmates,  ANGELIC BUIE, ANDREA WILLIAMS, SHAUNNA TAYLOR, BISHOP,  CARMEN HERMECZ , and TRIER MCALLISTER.  All were the most talented individuals MAMADO had ever met!   Their chemistry in all working together were like magic!  After getting a dorm strictly for the band, the Wardens got authorization for them to have a radio to listen to the top music on the charts. 

 

Once MAMADO orchestrated all their chosen music, they were  allowed to perform twice a month in the gym and the whole prison loved them including the officers! MR PAYNE was very excited to be working with such talent inside the prison, until he began performing with them!  MAMADO began hanging out frequently in the band room and it brought so much peace to her heart and soul doing something she so loved unconditionally.  She began programming original material and writing with the girls.  she absolutely Loved them and begun collaborating with to bring their awesome writing skills to her music! But she knew nothing would ever become of the project because they were not authorized for a studio and recording.  One day one of the Wardens invited ALLEN WILLIAMS to the prison, a young black State Representative from the Florida Capitol in Tallahassee.  He was amazed at all of MAMADO’s paintings and asked the Warden if he could take his favorite one to the Capitol to put in the main hallway. By her being transferred to a freedom dorm, she was not a threat to society and  could physically sit down with people coming into the prison and talk to them. 

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She was ever so proud because it made the prison look good.  MAMADO was on the Tallahassee news and my paintings were on display in several surrounding art galleries!  MAMADO was overjoyed and soon the prison started receiving recording equipment.  She created a 17 song album with every genre of music from R&B to HIP HOP, SOUL, JAZZ, ROCK, GOSPEL & COUNTRY! MR PAYNE had asked all of them could he please sing on the Gospel track.  MAMADO and the female inmate artists said of course cause they absolutely loved MR PAYNE and how he always had their backs!  At that time they were all called to their dorms for a 30 minute count that went on three times a day in the entire prison.  This was proper protocol to make sure no inmates had escaped! After so anxiously waiting to return to the band room they returned and to their surprise MR PAYNE was fully done laying his vocals!  His voice had them in tears!  The ladies in the band heard through talk in the prison, that the Wardens were plotting to take ownership of their music they had written and put their heart and souls into because they were property of the state!

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The inmates finally made MR PAYNE aware of this terrible news but  he was already aware of the tragic news!  Soon MR PAYNE  saved all the music on a drive brought in the prison by him, then wiped out the entire keyboard with all the music MAMADO created,  took the laptop out of the prison and he NEVER returned.   MAMADO was immediately handcuffed and taken to the female Wardens office and questioned about MR PAYNE's whereabouts and if she had something to do with it.  She threatened MAMADO with taking away her gain time but MAMADO had to stick with their word with saying she did not know his whereabouts!  MAMADO then let them know she will be taking legal actions if they did detect where their music had gone.

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Soon, MAMADO'S release day from being incarcerated for 18 months had finally come!  The Warden allowed the whole entire prison to line up around the  at the fences of the compound and wave goodbye.  When turning inn her laundry, the Sergeant told her, out of her 10 years of being at that prison she had never seen an inmate have that many privileges and had done such tremendous work!  She also told her she had definitely made a huge impact on that prison!. When she was released to the person that had come to pick her they pulled over to a nearby store because they noticed  a strange car had been following them from the way from the prison. When they pulled over and parked, the car also pulled next to them. A guy with shades on and a cap pulled down, exited the vehicle and started walking over to their car.  To their surprise it was MR PAYNE! They hugged and he told MAMADO since the incident 3 months prior to her release, he had kept up with her release date!  He says since they had banned him from the prison and it was unlawful for him to come in contact with a prisoner being released, he had to follow them!  He also relieved her and told her the laptop and hard drive was secure and whenever she was ready to tell her story he was ready to sit side by side with her! Then he handed MAMADO several hundred dollar bills and they have been the best of friends since with her even producing some of his phenomenal gospel music!  This untold story is sure to touch the hearts of the world of music entertainment and  people who are incarcerated.

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THIS IS THE STORY OF "MUSIC BEHIND BARS!"