JAY-Z, Yo Gotti To Debut New Docuseries About Mississippi's Parchman Prison

JAY-Z has stepped up to assist with a number of social issues within the past few years. Now he's teaming up with Yo Gotti and Team Roc to help shed light on a civil rights issue that continues to plague inmates at a Mississippi penitentiary.

On Thursday, February 24, the A&E Network announced its plan to release a new docu-series called Exposing Parchman. The four-part program will focus on Hov, Gotti and Team Roc, which is Roc Nation's philanthropic vertical, as they fight for reform at the Mississippi State Penitentiary a.k.a. Parchman Prison. The docu-series will detail the journey both the rappers and the inmates go through after they jointly filed a civil rights lawsuit against the prison.

"[Team Roc] launched a fight to put a stop to the literal death sentences imposed on inmates through the inhumane, violent, and torturous conditions created by Parchman prison officials," said CEO of Roc Nation Desiree Perez. "We are honored to develop this series with A&E, Good Caper and ITV to continue to make sure the atrocities and history of Parchman are top of mind on a national stage.”

The docu-series might detail the horrendous conditions that may have led to the deaths of several inmates in Parchman. The federal lawsuit that was filed against the Mississippi Department of Corrections and the warden of the state penitentiary in 2020 alleged that the prison is an underfunded system that's “chronically understaffed.” It also detailed some of the poor conditions found within the prison including rat-infested facilities and lack of proper sewage.

The first lawsuit was filed by Roc Nation attorney Alex Spiro on behalf of Team Roc and 29 inmates from Parchman. A second lawsuit, filed a month after the initial suit, included 152 inmates, which demanded that the inhumane conditions at the prison needed to be dealt with. As for the docu-series, a release date has not been confirmed yet.