Dwelling on Death Row in Raleigh, North Carolina, Rrome Alone was born Michael Jerome Braxton in 1973, living all but the first few months of his life in the city he calls his home. He represents his hometown so passionately he even spells his name with the double Rs of “Ruff Raleigh.” “Alone” is an allusion to his being like no other as well as a nod to his many years of solitude and solitary confinement. For the millions of prisoners who “roam alone” in confinement, Rrome Alone is their representative. 
 In other ways, however, Rrome is never alone. A devout Muslim and dedicated student of Islam who also goes by Alim, his faith in Allah is his constant companion. Rrome Alone raps for many reasons—to celebrate his family, friends, and hometown, to call out racism, injustice, and police brutality, and to glorify God. But there is a particular cause that motivates him more than anything else: FREEDOM. While others rap for money or fame, Rrome Alone is “speaking for those that’s in the system, innocent, but can’t get no assistance,” like his close friend Stacey Tyler who is an innocent man on death row for the past 20 years. 
 For Rrome, music is the key to self-therapy. Using the prison telephone as his microphone, he collaborates with producers on the outside who record his vocals and provide beats for his rhymes. With the help of producer Nick Neutronz, an underground Railroad approach melds his phone-recorded vocals into digital tracks for an authentic raw sound.