“Rap Music On Trial” Bill Should Be Passed Nationwide

Everyone knows about Young Thug, Gunna, and other members of the music label YSL being arrested on RICO charges, but it’s been said that their rap lyrics taken from multiple songs will be used as evidence in court. Allegedly, rapper Young Thug has committed a total of 30 crimes while being a member of YSL (since 2012). Just because of these charges, everyone involved in YSL and any other labels/groups the artists may be a part of go down with him, even if they weren’t involved in the crimes Young Thug had committed. I think the use of song lyrics is highly unfair, especially just towards the rap genre. He and many other upcoming rappers could possibly be losing their careers since RICO charges aren’t taken lightly in the courtroom.

Recently, the New York State Senate passed a “Rap Music On Trial” Bill, which prevents law enforcement from quoting lyrics from rap songs in the trial no matter the circumstance. This bill was supported by notable artists Jay-Z, Meek Mill, Bobby Shmurda, Killer Mike, Fat Joe, and many more.

We also know that the rap genre itself is predominately black artist-based. Rap lyrics can be brutal, but shouldn’t we also make it so that other genre’s lyrics, such as metal, be used in court as well? Many metal artists also have pretty gore-y and gruesome lyrics, so it would only be fair to use their lyrics in court as well. Do you see how not right that sounds? Rappers and other artists in all genres use music and rhyming as a way to express emotions, without them meaning that they may actually express themselves like this in the real world.

Law enforcement takes these kinds of things to the extreme and abuses them with their power. Many rap artists since the very beginning have gotten into major trouble over lyrics, when the majority of the time, they don’t actually mean anything.  Celebrities are generally convicted of false accusations, and rap artists tend to get treated the worst in the courtrooms. It’s unfair to the rap community to do things like this, which is why I think that the “Rap Music On Trial'' bill should be passed across the United States.