OneFour on prison, police and their long-awaited debut: ‘We wouldn’t be who we are today if we didn’t go through that’

‘We are a living example of what’s possible with music’ … OneFour. Photograph: Michael Candrick

As evidence of what’s changed for the Australian hip-hop act OneFour, the group’s Jerome “J Emz” Misa points to the blue sky behind him.

“Right now I’m going for a midday walk – I never used to do this back in the days!” the rapper laughs, his Zoom screen shaky as he puffs through the streets of western Sydney. “Physically and mentally, I feel like there’s been a lot of positive changes.”