A unique music program is helping men in a minimum security prison in Perth's south get out of jail and stay out.

Re-offending rates at Wandoo Reintegration Facility are less than half the state's average and the music program Rap'N'Radio is considered by many as one of the main reasons why.

The program is created and run by musician Scott Griffiths, aka MC Optamus, from the group Downsyde, and teaches participants about "Aussie hip-hop".

The Monday morning music classes have been popular with inmates since they started when the prison opened more than three years ago.

"With Scotty, I've listened to his music for many years ... so when I heard he was running this program it was a huge opportunity," one participant said.

For this resident, as they are referred to at Wandoo, writing and rapping lyrics has become a form of self-reflection.

"For me it's like talking to somebody and getting problems off my chest," he said.

"It's about the expression and I feel so much better after.

"They're personal lyrics about my time in here and my family that have supported me through it and are waiting for me. That it hasn't been all for nothing.

"It's two years of my life that's been taken but at the same time I've gained so much from it as a person."

The young man is due for release soon and said he was looking forward to being reunited with his son.

He said Rap'N'Radio has helped him imagine a life outside.

"Work commitments are prioritised over everything. Got a little son out there so being in his life and giving him a good life is my priority," he said.

"Music will come second to that but it will always be up there."

His track Hold Tight will be recorded and produced by Griffiths and then released on CD along with other songs from the residents.

His said the lyrics were a way of asking his family, particularly his son, not to give up on him.

"I got my boy waitin'

I got my mum sayin'

You gotta man up boy

It's time to stop playin'

I hear what you're sayin'

And I know that it's true

I'm a pick up my game

And do it all for you."

Hip-hop not deserving of negative rap

Griffiths has done a lot of outreach and educational work including in remote communities and said the program was about engagement.

"The incarceration rates of Indigenous people in WA is way too high," he said.

"Rap'N'Radio helps them have the chance not to become another statistic."

While hip-hop is sometimes thought of as angry or aggressive music, Griffiths said its expressive nature and youth-driven focus related to the men.

"Hip-hop culture suffers from stereotypes, as many cultures do," he said.

"I think one of the false accusations of hip-hop is the 'gangsterisms' and disrespecting women and stuff like that but in actual fact it's a very positive culture.

"Once people get drawn into it they realise it supports people being able to be expressive and it doesn't have to be negative."

A partnership between the Central Institute of Technology and Wandoo enables residents to learn how to write lyrics, scratch on turntables, and produce, edit and record music.

Lyrics written by one of the young men taking part in hip-hop music program at Wandoo. ( ABC News: Briana Shepherd )

Course turns 'yard-talk' into self-reflection: MC Optamus

Griffiths said the change he saw in the men that took part was often overwhelming.

"A lot of residents come into the program from other prison facilities where it can be quite tense," he said.

"One of the transitions you see in the program is guys writing primarily what we call yard talk, or tough ego-driven lyrics, but then after a certain amount of time they write reflective lyrics.

"They're looking at the fact that they've separated from their children, separated from their partners and they also look at the journey here and the journey out."

Walking around the facility it is easy to forget that you are in a prison. The residents move freely through most areas and many have jobs either within the facility or outside.

With the prison population in WA growing at three times the rate of the adult population, Wandoo's manager Wendy Sinclair said all efforts needed to be made to reduce re-offending.

She said Rap'N'Radio was one of the best initiatives at the facility.

"By the time they've come in here they have failed. They've failed in school, they've failed at work, they've probably let their family down, they have failed in society," she said.

Ms Sinclair said giving the men the tools to imagine and begin a life outside was the only way to stop the cycle.

"We talk a lot about them being a prisoner of their life and an architect of their future and what Rap'N'Radio does is it grips them," she said.

"It's their language. They understand music and they're passionate about music.

"Some of them have clicked onto learning, they've learned to read and write so they can go on to college."

Griffiths would like to see similar programs run in other facilities, believing the culture and language of hip-hop speaks to these men in a way nothing else does.

"We want to put guys back into our society that are positive and are going to make a difference and change their lives," he said.

"Change their children's lives and their partner's lives too.

"I'm very blessed to be able to provide a program that, for the most part, gives these guys those opportunities."