The YSL trial in Atlanta has been the talk of the town. I asked the question to my attorney friend “Should rap lyrics be used as crime evidence?” He believes evidence is evidence no matter the source.
Point #1
My next series of questions were…How do you prove that the rap lyrics (the art) are literal? How do you prove that the rappers are really doing the crime that they are rapping about? The black culture is unique because we may use words to sound tough but may not have ever done any of the things that we sing or rap about. This cultural nuance shows cultural incompetency in many who don’t understand how rap language is used in practice.
Point #2
Rap is free speech. At this time, The First Amendment does not protect art from being used as evidence in Georgia. Should it? Without freedoms of speech you don’t have democracy and a constitution. The RAP Act legislation is the law that protects the First Amendment Rights and has now only been passed in California possibly becoming a Federal law.
Point #3
If rap lyrics used as evidence successfully leads to more convictions, this will certainly call for more responsibility in music. Some rappers made the point that no one is doing anything about guns, but there’s a target on creativity. They have also stated that blacks are over-policed on our tone and self expression.
Will we ever really separate art from crime?
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