Most Downloaded - Ribby’s First Night in Jail - Ribby247

Across the last 18 seasons of the Clink, We have had some really raw conversations. This is one of most listened to episodes with Ribby247. 

Ribby247 is a Gold Coast rapper who broke onto the scene last year with singles like ‘RUN’ and collaborations with QLD artists. Ribby released his first solo effort of the year ‘Welcome To Shooter Inc.’, and if it’s anything to go by, expect to hear even bigger things from the Big Boppa as the year progresses. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Approache production must have been a little bit overwhelming.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
I mean, you come off the truck down and it's old,
it's historical, it's cold, it's riddled with cockroaches, it's putred.
You know, the brothers run the system. There are you coming?

Speaker 3 (00:30):
You know?

Speaker 1 (00:31):
The eyes are all on you and new kid on
the block. How was that for you? Being a local lader?
I mean, was that I guess classes local Balana to Grafton.
I mean realistically it is.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
But within the groups and the peers and no on
the boys, were you local or were you still an
outsider coming into the system there.

Speaker 4 (00:47):
I'd say, yeah, local from the area, but because it
was my first time, definitely an outsider.

Speaker 1 (00:54):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:55):
Because so what I'm getting at is there was no
sort of open arms, come on, let's go brothers your
fire hood.

Speaker 4 (01:00):
No, no, sorry, there was before I even got into
the the wing. When we were doing like the induction,
I was in with one of my mates, very close friends,
and we just kicked it off.

Speaker 3 (01:12):
Yeah, he was like tweet.

Speaker 4 (01:15):
We ended up being Selli's so he showed me the ropes,
but insaying that I knew the go from Jubi.

Speaker 3 (01:21):
Yeah, I already knew the go like.

Speaker 1 (01:24):
That's a big difference. But bro, you walk into one
wing man and I'll tell you now.

Speaker 2 (01:28):
Especially if you get put up in the corners, you
know where you've got four outs, and it's it's ugly,
the landings you walk it's it's it's overwhelming, and you
feel that energy in there because there's so much history,
you know, I mean sure that you must have understood
and known, you know what what you were coming into,
being the old Grafton.

Speaker 4 (01:48):
Yeah, I knew, and I'd heard stories. There's a lot
of it's a bad place that went on there from
the mates and from the screws. Definitely numerous bashings and
stabbings and whatever what have you.

Speaker 3 (02:03):
So I knew what I was walking into. But I
think I was.

Speaker 4 (02:06):
I was pretty confident in myself, like, I know, it
wasn't a bitch, so I wasn't gonna cop shit.

Speaker 3 (02:11):
And I was nineteen at a.

Speaker 4 (02:12):
Time when I went in, so I knew I would
have known someone in there, not exactly who, And it
turns out I didn't know fucking anyone in there.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
That's better than a punch in the head that yeah,
this is gonna be pave my ass.

Speaker 1 (02:28):
I've just been.

Speaker 4 (02:31):
Even though I was a bit confident, like I was
still packing it.

Speaker 3 (02:35):
You just don't know what's behind that.

Speaker 2 (02:36):
I don't care who you know, unless you've lived and
breathed the system. And even then you don't know because
you don't know politically, whether you've left bad blood, someone's
said something out of school and you've come back into
the system. You know, the revolving doors. So they call
it that you're going to have drama. That's right, you know, with.

Speaker 4 (02:53):
The ship I was doing, like I had already accepted
that there's probably gonna be some beef in there. We
can't sort of like relatives.

Speaker 1 (02:58):
Of square ups of stuff or like.

Speaker 3 (03:01):
You know, someone's cousins, uncle, whatever.

Speaker 4 (03:03):
Yeah, I already accepted that, and I had that, I
already accept that when I was going to do and shit.

Speaker 3 (03:08):
So it was sort of like same, same but different.

Speaker 2 (03:12):
How did you feel about walking into the yard, So
you would have come in, you would have been an
end of the day. You wouldn't now off the truck
straight into the cells, got your pie or sausage.

Speaker 1 (03:19):
Rolled down at reception. Yeah, the old as your dinner,
and you pillow sleep with your fucking plastic plates and
cups and it's nice and quiet in the wing, or
it's just been locked down at four o'clock or three thirty,
depending on what day it was.

Speaker 3 (03:32):
Yeah, I walked in. I think it was a night time.
It took ages to get in. Yeah, during the day,
and just a shit reception. I think that's what they
call it.

Speaker 4 (03:45):
STI been that long sleeping in induction because there were
so many of us waiting to be poured in.

Speaker 1 (03:51):
You got spin of cells just across from watching everyone
come in. That's that's about to say.

Speaker 2 (03:56):
It's that's another thing I guess for a young man
to come in and see, because it is it's very
confronting grafting, especially because everything's just there and you know
you're coming in and you're going through reception, but then
you've got your perspects sort of sell here where you've
got someone who's well spina joel, someone is just truly
hanging out because they've just come off the street, they're

(04:18):
drug induced.

Speaker 1 (04:19):
It's ugly. It's not a nice thing to.

Speaker 3 (04:23):
Take like.

Speaker 1 (04:24):
That's got to have some sort of mental impact on
a young man.

Speaker 3 (04:27):
Yeah, surely I can't quite.

Speaker 4 (04:28):
Put my finger on it right now, but all my
experiences of life definitely play a major part in mental
health and even building your personality and like building your character.
But like right now, I can't put a finger on it,
but definitely did play a part. It was interesting.

Speaker 2 (04:45):
I want to ask you this and you'll be able
to I'm sure understand for those to be in a
graft and will know this. You don't have a shower
in yourself, a new kid on the block, you know,
you're just visualizing. I'm just wanting to get that picture
because I haven't had this conversation with someone that was
quite as young. I mean I have had many a
guess in the old has experienced what it was like.

(05:07):
You know, Bernie Matthews, phenomenal man, God bless him and
always loved dearly was I had the honor I was
in jail with Bernie Matthews, whom was there and graft
and when it was at its most notorious, his beatings
and what he endured there and of the inmates in
that period of time was phenomenal. Like I'm being disgusting,

(05:28):
It's not like that today the squad doesn't come in,
well it does, but it doesn't come in as your
reception committee and flog you and you know, you don't
cop the treatment that once was given there by the
Welcoming committee. But I want to get back to exactly
what I'm saying. You're the young you've just come out,
you've spent the night locked in obviously straight out into
the yard.

Speaker 1 (05:49):
It was like got your tower. Yeah, well that's what
she wears your head at.

Speaker 2 (05:53):
Like you're looking around, you're looking at a shower block,
and I mean without plan too informative about what goes
on in the system. Well, actually, you know, fuck it,
it's shut down now. Like's are sitting down there literally
having shots. You've got four five blokes sharing a needle.
You're just wanting to go and have a shit or
a shower.

Speaker 4 (06:08):
There's no doors toilet because there's fucking ten cans in
each one sharing a fit.

Speaker 1 (06:14):
It's just pure, you know, I mean it was, and.

Speaker 4 (06:17):
There's no doors on and then the one toilet you
get doesn't have a door on it, and just fu,
he's come through shooting up.

Speaker 1 (06:23):
I need a ship and they're not going to move
for it's no fucking door.

Speaker 3 (06:26):
You got fucking Tom Dick and Harry walking past and.

Speaker 1 (06:28):
They had that shower block. Yeah, mate, that's that's you're
getting got. If you're going to get got? Yeah, how
was that for you?

Speaker 2 (06:34):
Though?

Speaker 4 (06:34):
It was just like fucking honestly, like here I am.
It was a I don't know what the word is
it was. It was definitely a learning curve and it
was a lot to get used to. But I know
I have to get used to it quick.

Speaker 1 (06:46):
And that's the thing, you know, you've really got to
get your senses on. Shut your mouth. Yeah, don't look
at anyone.

Speaker 3 (06:51):
I just put my put my bag down, a clear bag.

Speaker 4 (06:55):
You know, you got your whole.

Speaker 3 (06:56):
Day in that.

Speaker 2 (06:57):
You take it out of the yard, your little coffee
cup backing. It might be lucky enough to get a
sweeper that might help you, but.

Speaker 3 (07:03):
Or you get lunchlock, lunch locking, and then you're back.

Speaker 1 (07:06):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (07:06):
So I just put my shit down somewhere I could
see it because I didn't know really anyone except for
old brother boy yep.

Speaker 3 (07:12):
So I put my shit down with him and I
just started cutting laps.

Speaker 2 (07:15):
Well, they still giving pouches of ox at this stage.
Had that stopped?

Speaker 3 (07:18):
I think they cut that off twenty fifteen.

Speaker 2 (07:20):
Yeah, right, so you've come in, Oh god, yeah, they
were something I don't go into that buck because that
wasn't what we're here to talk about. And I asked
this question because I mean, we talk about vulnerability. And
I don't care who you are or how old you
if you're a young man walking into this moll and
today that I guess the system, you know, the yards
are bigger Queensland systems. Just I don't get it because

(07:43):
the way they compressed the yards are just you'veri inten
a barred square box.

Speaker 1 (07:49):
It's just you're lapping up shoulder to shoulder.

Speaker 2 (07:51):
It's just instant tension no matter where you are. You know,
you could be over in the corner training, but you
could kick off at any moment. At least in the
New south a system where you were.

Speaker 1 (08:02):
The yards are.

Speaker 2 (08:03):
Fairly big, plenty of room to move generally graft And
though one wing wasn't wasn't it wasn't that big.

Speaker 4 (08:10):
So when I was in So, when I first started
going to Grafton, so I've been there throughout my my time.

Speaker 3 (08:18):
I was constantly back and forth from kemc. So it's
not because my cour was up.

Speaker 5 (08:22):
Yeah, up on the milk run yeah, man, fucking hell,
shout out Norco milk. But that was the best part
of every morning you get your RCO milk. That was
like something to look forward to, lost track when I.

Speaker 1 (08:34):
Was I can see that twinkling your eyes.

Speaker 2 (08:36):
And it's not until you actually have these conversation. We
don't talk about it, and we don't there's nothing to
talk about because who wants to talk about future jail
and you know, your time in a yard. But it's
it's important for the listeners to understand truly how actually
bad it is. You know, it's not fun and you're
you're I think such an interesting chat because as a guest,

(09:01):
your generation is very different to those that I've had
on here who have experience that, so it is a
different and you know, most of the guys that have
come in have done a lot of long terms, they've
gone into Grafton and to them it was very well
known what to expect and how to how to hold
themselves in the yard. I've never had the chance to
ask someone who's a younger fellow their opinion, so it's important.

Speaker 4 (09:23):
Yeah, And I've never had the chance to really talk
to someone who gets it, to tell you the truth.
None of my mates have been in jail, well like sorry,
none of my mates had been to jail until after
I'd went. Yeah, so I was the first and then
I got out and I started hanging out with other ladsship.

Speaker 3 (09:42):
But that's a whole different story. But back to we
were talking about the shape of the yap, Yeah, we were.

Speaker 4 (09:47):
Yeah, So when I first started going, it was they
share it, you know, you get lunch locking and the
bony come out. So about halfway through my little fucking
stay in the prison systems, they actually sectioned it off.
Oh really, Yeah, so they cut it in half. So

(10:08):
they cut it in half, left the bigger half for
one wing.

Speaker 1 (10:12):
As a fancy you can see through or a wall through.

Speaker 4 (10:14):
There's like there's two couple of doors you can see
through singing out to the girls and ship.

Speaker 1 (10:18):
And that's right because they're women.

Speaker 4 (10:19):
Yeah, So they cut it in half, left one wing
with the shower block, and then they'd cut the second.

Speaker 1 (10:25):
Half where the wall was with the squash the squash court, water.

Speaker 3 (10:28):
Yard and the women. Right, so it was turned to
three yards.

Speaker 1 (10:32):
What were the women downstairs? Were they of two wings?

Speaker 2 (10:36):
Yeah, where the education block used to be around there
half yeah, right, but.

Speaker 4 (10:41):
Yeah, so they cut it in half about halfway through
my stay and yeah, it got even smaller.

Speaker 1 (10:46):
Wow, I didn't know.

Speaker 3 (10:47):
You couldn't.

Speaker 4 (10:47):
You couldn't even cut a full lap now because the
shower block. It was more like you you cut it,
you go more then come back around the shower block.

Speaker 3 (10:56):
It was fucked.

Speaker 4 (10:58):
So, yeah, it's a whole different world. People don't get it.
It's not like it wasn't as bad as I.

Speaker 3 (11:03):
Thought it'd be. Don't get me a it's not nice.
It's not it's not it's not last m h m
hm