New music; Lifers Group & X-Raided - Count My Blessings (Official Lyric Video)

Produced by: Phase 5 (R.I.P.) Co-Produced by: Alvarez Recorded, Mixed & Mastered by: PushButtinz @M.O. Sound group Cuts & Scratches by: DJ TMB EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: ALVAREZ ℗ Chief Instigator 2026 X-Raided appears courtesy of Bloc Star Evolution/Strange Music, Inc. Lyric Video by: Anerae VeShaughn Brown for Bloc Star Evolution Editing by: Anerae VeShaughn Brown for Bloc Star Evolution

Lifers Group - "Count My Blessings" (featuring X-Raided) brings together two of the most important voices in the history of prison rap. For the first time, the East Coast pioneers of the movement, Lifers Group, join forces with the defining West Coast voice of the genre, X-Raided, in a collaboration rooted in truth, survival, redemption and lived experience. Just the second Lifers Group release in over three decades, "Count My Blessings" expands upon themes of confinement, dehumanization, institutional neglect, redemption, perseverance, and gratitude while delivering an unflinching portrait of life behind bars drawn entirely from firsthand experience. More than a collaboration, "Count My Blessings" represents the convergence of two defining lineages of prison rap: Emerging from the Juvenile Awareness Program at East Jersey State Prison (formerly Rahway), Lifers Group established the blueprint for prison rap in the early 1990s, demonstrating that firsthand accounts of incarceration could become powerful tools for education, prevention, social commentary, and change. Their work challenged the romanticism of prison life by exposing its realities through the voices of the men living it. Lifers Group established itself as one of music's most purposeful and consequential voices, extending its impact beyond music through its connection to the Academy Award-winning documentary Scared Straight!, the Peabody Award-winning television special I Am My Brother's Keeper, and a Grammy-nominated long-form video. Their return after more than thirty years serves as a reminder that their mission has always extended far beyond entertainment. At nearly the same moment on the opposite side of the country, X-Raided emerged from South Sacramento as one of West Coast Hip Hop's most gifted lyricists. After recording his groundbreaking debut album, Psycho Active, as a teenager, he was arrested at just 17 years old and later sentenced to 31 years to life. Rather than ending his career, incarceration became the setting in which he built one of Hip Hop's most extraordinary bodies of work. Over the course of twenty-six plus years behind bars, X-Raided became the only recording artists in music history to sustain a nationally recognized career while serving a life sentence, repeatedly hitting the Billboard charts without traditional singles or music videos. Through his landmark releases, he documented not only the harsh realities of prison life, but also accountability, spiritual growth, resilience and redemption. His prosecution became the first example of rap lyrics being introduced as evidence in a criminal trial, foreshadowing a debate that continues throughout Hip Hop today. Following his release from prison on September 14, 2018, X-Raided solidified his career as an independent recording artist, entrepreneur, author and advocate. His story stands among Hip Hop's most remarkable, not simply because he survived a life sentence, but because he transformed it into a legacy of redemption, helping others avoid the path he once traveled. Separated by nearly 3,000 miles but united by remarkably similar experiences, Lifers Group and X-Raided transformed incarceration into education through music, creating parallel legacies that finally converge on "Count My Blessings." Produced by the late Phase 5, "Count My Blessings" is driven by melodic yet minimalist production that allows every lyric to carry its full emotional weight. The authenticity behind every verse gives the record a gravity rarely found anywhere in Hip Hop. These artists are not imagining incarceration, they are documenting lives they actually lived, making "Count My Blessings" one of the most historically significant collaborations ever recorded within the prison rap tradition. Some songs entertain. Others document history. "Count My Blessings" does both.