On Creative Collaboration: Fury Young & Spoon Jackson
Shared visions, inspiring outcomes
The most fruitful collaborations stem from connections between those with shared goals but different experiences, skills, and resources. Fury Young and Spoon Jackson have been collaborators since 2014, when Spoon first began contributing poetry, lyrics, and visual art to Fury’s then-fledgling Die Jim Crow project. Die Jim Crow was born of Fury’s idea to create a concept album with formerly and currently incarcerated Black musicians that explored themes of racial injustice in the U.S. prison system. Over time, as Fury recorded with more and more individuals in multiple prisons, it was decided that Die Jim Crow was bigger than a concept album, and would transform into a record label instead, now dubbed FREER Records.
In 2024, FREER Records released Spoon’s album No Moon, composed by grammy-nominated Nicolas Snyder and set to visuals by 12 different video artists coordinated by Fury. No Moon is a sprawling, spiritual soundscape that serves as a testament to the endless freedom of imagination, even from behind prison walls. The album also exemplifies the power of creative collaboration; with a shared vision regarding injustice in the prison system and a desire to deliver their message through creative expression, Spoon and Fury were able to create a powerful piece of art that could never have existed without their combined efforts.
Here’s what Fury and Spoon have to say about their collaboration over the years:
Fury: “I’ve known Spoon since 2014 and it's been a fun ride, despite him being inside. When I first met him, I was green to this stuff, and I thought he’d get out in the next ten years despite having LWOP [Life Without Parole]. It hasn't happened, but my passion for his release hasn’t waned. The past 12 years have been inspirational to me — Spoon has held strong, inspiring more and more artists over the years. From art shows, to an album with Nicolas Snyder, to a documentary, to Rabbits of Realness, Spoon has grown his network and keeps his artistic and poetic flame alive no matter the circumstances. I've gotten to know great people from around the world because of Spoon, and he even wrote the intro to my poetry book "Meat & Milk" in 2016. I won’t ever stop fighting for Spoon’s freedom so he can get to walk in new paths among wild nature. Whether he is inside or out here, Spoon will keep inspiring those around him. And that's a special gift.”
Spoon: “It has been a blessing [to collaborate with Fury], and has opened the heavenly gates to the music world even more [for me], allowing my natural reflections of music to be shared with people in the free world. Some people don’t know how freeing and important music and the world of art is for the incarcerated and their restoration! Makes me think about Stevie Wonder and his album Songs in the Key of Life.”
Follow FREER Records on Instagram @freer_records, and listen to Spoon’s album No Moon.