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 hip-hop figure judged along with 13 other people began Monday in Atlanta with a very large selection jury. It could be weeks before the parties agree on juries, for a trial that could last a good part of a year.
Young Thug, an Atlanta native, and his co-defendants were indicted in the 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.
Tried for criminal association
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 is known for his psychedelic and extravagant style, and his rhymes tinged with crackles in his voice make him one of the best representatives of the trap current.
The case is emblematic because the prosecutors used as evidence lyrics from some of Young Thug’s songs, those of fellow rapper Gunna – who pleaded guilty – as well as the verses of a posthumous song by Juice WRLD, who died in 2019 due to an overdose.
Will his music be blamed?
“If you decide to admit a crime in a rhythm, I will use it,” said the prosecutor, Fani Willis, during the investigation.
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 (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 aspiring rappers or artists, mostly African-Americans.
Source: BFM TV
