Mysonne has always been putting in the work. The Bronx native is one of Hip-Hop's most civic-minded artists; an indie rap star who has committed himself to fighting for change in his community and beyond. "The General" is committed to criminal justice reform; and he was on-hand for the inaugural United Justice Coalition's convention. Mysonne spoke to ROCK THE BELLS about the importance of social justice.

"The UJC in itself is important because it's comprised of so many individuals from so many different backgrounds and different cultural understandings, [who] are coming together for social justice," says Mysonne. "So the coalition itself is important. And the conference is just an extension of what the coalition is. So it's very important to have these conversations, to be in the rooms with legends such as Bernice King and Benjamin Crump. To be able to sit and listen and get information, hear perspectives, hear family members talk about their experiences; to hear people who have been incarcerated and have come back to society and done amazing things. It shows what we can do when we're given the right resources, the right opportunities and are in the right rooms."

Mysonne is the Founder of RAISING KINGS, a program he that he launched for incarcerated youth and adults, as well as schools.  His message is one of personal determination, self respect, nonviolence and racial equity; and the program is now running in three schools and in the penitentiary at Rikers Island, via collaboration with the organization Life Camp, Inc. He also co-founded UNTIL FREEDOM, an intersectional social and racial justice organization led by diverse people to address systemic racial injustice.   With Until Freedom, Mysonne has led efforts to #FreeMeekMill and fight for justice for Chikesia Clemons, Atatiana Jefferson, and more victims of police violence and oppression.  Mysonne has also been on the frontlines of prison reform, working most recently in Mississippi, organizing with the families of victims of the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman.

His sense of community is evident when he speaks, and Mysonne believes that rappers and the industry have an opportunity to be major catalysts for change.

"Being a product of Hip-Hop—I started out as a Hip-Hop artist signed to Def Jam—and just understanding how important Hip-Hop's voice is to our culture; [I believe] social justice is the most important thing about culture—those things have to connect. My mentor Harry Belafonte always says 'When the music is strong, the movement is strong.'"

In an industry that so often seems to place social issues on the backburner, Mysonne says that Hip-Hop has to actively support artists who are talking about politics, community, health, equity and sustainable wealth.

"The music should reflect the movement," he adds. "We have to have artists and we have to incentivize that. Unfortunately, the culture of Hip-Hop doesn't incentivize that. It doesn't show you artists who are that socially conscious, getting the notoriety and the fame they should get. As people who listen to Hip-Hop and love Hip-Hop, we have to incentivize that. We have to celebrate those who have that message that talks about us elevating and evolving and gaining equity and getting equality. We have to be intentional about that."

"We have to be intentional about making sure that we don't celebrate the degradation of our people and all of the negative things. Of course, that's reality and most of us come from that reality and we want to speak to that. But we also have to talk about the upliftment and what it's going to take to get to the next level."