Young Thug

• McDaniel, who uses the social media handle TheBiggestFinn4800, had previously been considered a person of interest in the case.
• Lawyers have used rappers’ lyrics as evidence in criminal cases since shortly after the rise of gangsta rap in the late 1980s.
• In fact, researchers at the University of Richmond documented at least 500 cases from 2009 to 2019 where rap lyrics were introduced as evidence in criminal trials.

Rap lyrics as criminal evidence

• If prosecutors can show that a rapper’s lyrics establish motive, intent or identity related to an alleged crime, then most judges will allow for the evidence to be used.
• But case law regarding using rap lyrics as evidence of a crime can vary from state to state, and judge to judge.
• In 2014, the New Jersey Supreme Court found that the introduction of a defendant rapper’s lyrics should not have been admitted into evidence, because the lyrics were general in nature and did not demonstrate motive or intent.

Criminalizing Black artists

• During the trial, the defendant rapper claimed he was not aware of the contents of the suitcase.
• As a result, allowing a rap artist’s lyrics to be used as evidence of a crime risks weaponizing an art form dominated by Black and other people of color.
• As it is, Black Americans are already incarcerated in state prisons at nearly five times the rate as white Americans.

Protecting artistic expression

• In recent years, lawmakers in California and New York have sought to limit the use of rap lyrics in evidence of criminality.
• In July 2022, Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia introduced the Restoring Artistic Protection Act, or RAP Act.
• The federal legislation aims to limit the admissibility of artistic expression as evidence.

Case for caution

• The probability of prejudice against defendants who are rappers in any scenario, unfortunately, in 2023 is still too high.
• Prohibiting the use of lyrics can help ensure that not “one innocent suffer.”