City Girls’ JT has candidly spoken out about serving a one-year prison sentence for credit card fraud charges while asserting that black people are rarely celebrated when they’re doing well. The Act Up hitmaker recently sat down for an interview on the Abolition X podcast, where she reflected on the lessons she learned during and after she spent time behind bars.
In one of the segments, the 29-year-old shared her thoughts on the lack of support black people tend to get from their community because others tend to be “more in-tuned” with someone who’s doing badly instead of seeing someone doing well for themselves. “People are more in-tuned with people who are down and out, than people who are up,” she told hosts Indigo Mateo, Vic Mensa, and Richie Reseda.
“They don’t know how to celebrate Black people when they are up, they are only relatable to Black people when they are down, in f*cked up situations. As soon as you get your first sense of confidence, they like, ‘Who the f*ck you think you are?'” JT openly admitted that going to prison wasn’t something she had fully prepared herself for, adding that the experience had put a lot of fear and anxiety into her mind.
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“I feel like I got better. Going to prison and coming out, gave me more edge, in my music when I rap and in my voice,” she continued to share. “It did put a lot of fear in me too. It put a lot of anxiety in me. It changed me completely.”
JT was released from prison in October 2019. Within hours after leaving the penitentiary, she dropped her first single for the die-hard fans who had been showing love and support for the City Girls after fellow band member Yung Miami was left to fend on her own to keep their momentum going while JT was incarcerated.
Further speaking on the changes she wanted to make after regaining her freedom, the Panties an Bra lyricist knew there were several things she wanted to work on, adding, “My whole life, I have always been painted as a rebellious person, and to the point where I started to believe it.”
“If you always tell me that I’m the problem, I’m going to believe that I’m the problem, so now that I’m the problem, I’m going to be the problem.” JT told the podcast she felt isolated and disconnected from the things happening outside of prison, but there was a lot of support from fellow inmates who encouraged her to stay strong.
The City Girls released their latest single Top Notch featuring Fivio Foreign earlier this month as the duo begin production on their third studio album. There’s currently been no word on when the project is expected to drop.