2006 POY - Second

Kimberly Mitchell

Singles

Death sentence, life mission

When Lloyd Byron Martell got sentenced as a first-time offender to four years in prison for fleeing and eluding police in 2004, Martell swore to himself that when he got out of prison he was going to change his life. What Martell did not know is how severely it would be changed for him by the Michigan Department of Corrections.

While serving time in the Jackson Prison in Michigan. Martell had what he believed was a hemorrhoid lanced in prison. By October of 2005, Martell was bleeding from the rectum and unable to walk. Prison medical records show it was actually a cancerous polyp that went untreated and by the time Martell went to a private hospital, contracted for specialty services by the prison, he was in the fourth stage of cancer and was told he only had 20 months left to live.

After fighting to be released from prison and winning that battle with only six months left to live, Martell now has to battle with the demons of his past and face his certain future of death. With everything to live for and nothing to hope for, Martell’s one-to-four year prison sentence turned into an unnecessary death sentence. In his last days, Martell focuses on being a voice for inmates still in prison, who he says are being murdered every day by the Michigan Department of Corrections and making sure that his son will have nothing to worry about financially once he is gone.

Standing in the moment

After Detroit Producer Jay Dilla a.k.a. Jay Dee died from complications of a rare blood disease and kidney failure. Two months later, Detroit Rapper Proof, was gunned down at an after-hours club in Detroit. The two friends were forefathers of Detroit hip-hop and both served as ambassadors of Detroit’s witty, biting, and soulful brand of hip-hop. They pushed up-and-comers and spent time on the underground scene, even though they were linked with major labels. There have been complaints that national labels snub this city’s music, gripes about how it’s difficult to sustain an area fan base and moans that commercial radio won’t play local stuff that lacks major-label backing. Who will emerge as the scene leader, as Detroit hip-hop trudges forward against the odds? A series of portraits were done to showcase Local Detroit Artists, who reflect on what it truly means to be a hip-hop star.