Is the rapper Young Thug a member of a gang, is his record label a front for criminal activity, and are his lyrics evidence that can be used against him? The trial of this contemporary hip-hop figure, tried with 13 others, begins Monday.
Young Thug, an Atlanta native, and his co-defendants were indicted last spring by a Georgia state grand jury for their alleged membership in an offshoot of the “Bloods” gang identified as “Young Slime Life,” or YSL. . Acronyms that correspond to those of his label founded in 2016, Young Stoner Life Records.
The fourteen protagonists are tried for conspiracy to commit crimes with a view to the extortion of funds. In support of this accusation: alleged acts of murder, drug trafficking, violent car theft… Young Thug is on trial for criminal association and participation in the criminal activities of a street gang.
His arrest in May came as a shock to Atlanta’s influential hip-hop scene, of which the 31-year-old rapper, who has collaborated with the genre’s biggest names, is a figurehead.
Jeffery Williams, his real name, grew up in the poor neighborhoods of Atlanta. Like 2 Chainz, he caught the eye of Gucci Mane, who signed him in 2013. His singles stoner Y danny glover later brought him fame. Tattooed up to his face, he’s known for his psychedelic, outlandish style, and the crackling-tinged rhymes in his voice make him one of the best representatives of the trap scene.
Evidence
The case is also emblematic because prosecutors used lyrics from some of Young Thug’s songs, those of fellow rapper Gunna, who pleaded guilty, as evidence, as well as lines from a posthumous song by Juice WRLD, who died in 2019. of an overdose. .
“If you decide to admit a crime in a ‘beat’ (a rap rhythm), I will use it,” the prosecutor, Fani Willis, assumed.
This isn’t the first time hip-hop verses have found their way to court. The defense, which insists that YSL is nothing more than an artistic label, called a specialist on the subject, University of Richmond professor Erik Nielson, as a witness.
in his book Rap on trial: race, letters and guilt in the United States (“Rap on Trial: Race, Words and Guilt in America”, untranslated) published in 2019, the latter indicates that courts frequently use this controversial method: taking fragments of artistic texts out of context to support criminal proceedings and convict budding rappers or artists. , most often African American.
“With increasing and disturbing frequency, prosecutors are trying to use rap lyrics as confessions,” also denounces a petition launched a few months ago by Kevin Liles, the co-founder of the music label 300 Entertainment, a Warner affiliate, of which YSL is a member. . Records is a registered trademark.
first amendment
“This is not just a violation of the First Amendment protection of freedom of expression and creation (of the US Constitution, editor’s note). It hits already marginalized communities and silences their stories of family, struggle, survival and success”, adds the text.
The petition, signed tens of thousands of times online, calls for the law to limit, down to the federal level, prosecutors’ ability to use artistic expression as evidence of criminal activity or intent.
This is already the case in California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a decriminalization of artistic expression law last fall that doesn’t ban the use of song lyrics entirely, but reduces them.
Similar laws are being considered in the states of New York and New Jersey, and Congressmen Hank Johnson and Jamaal Bowman introduced legislation last summer to protect artists’ free speech under the First Amendment.
“Rap is an inherently political discourse: it can be painful, heartbreaking, uncomfortable, but it’s vital to criticize society,” said Brad Hoylman, a local senator and co-author of the project in New York state. According to him, using song lyrics in court could “undermine freedom of expression” and “lead to judicial error.”
Of the 28 people initially named in the indictment, 14 are expected to stand trial, which could last six to nine months. Six will be tried separately and eight, including Gunna and Young Thug’s brother Quantavious Grier, have signed plea agreements.
Source: BFM TV
