Tee Grizzley has officially cleared his criminal record in Michigan.
The Detroit rapper, whose real name is Terry Wallace, revealed on Instagram that his felony convictions were expunged after he appeared before Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie Aquilina.
“Every felony GONE!!!! Thank you God,” Grizzley wrote alongside photos from the courtroom. “If you’re reading this and you’ve made mistakes, don’t let them convince you your life is over.”
He continued with a message for anyone trying to move beyond their past.
“One decision doesn’t have to define your entire story,” he wrote. “Keep working. Keep praying. Keep growing. Your comeback can be greater than your setback.”
Grizzley’s convictions dated back to robberies committed in 2014 while he was attending Michigan State University. His time behind bars later became an important part of his story as an artist, with his breakout 2016 single “First Day Out” arriving shortly after his release from prison.
Despite building a successful career in music, Grizzley said the felony record continued to create obstacles years later.
“I miss out on a lot of business opportunities because I couldn’t go perform in certain places,” he said. “I couldn’t go do certain things because of the felonies.”
Grizzley added that his record also prevented him from obtaining certain life insurance policies, explaining that “it’s a bunch of hindrance that comes with having felonies.”
His expungement came on the same day Aquilina celebrated two teenagers who completed Ingham County’s Juvenile Weapons Court program. The program gives eligible young people facing weapons charges an opportunity to work toward reduced charges by meeting requirements involving education, employment, counseling and other forms of support.
Grizzley was invited to speak with the graduates and used his own experiences to emphasize what receiving another chance can mean.
“I feel like it’s going to make a world of a difference in their lives,” he said of the program. “It’s going to keep a lot of people out of trouble.”
One graduate, Alejandro Garza, said hearing from Grizzley was particularly meaningful because the rapper could speak from experience about overcoming serious legal trouble and rebuilding his life.
