Rap lyrics being utilized in court docket instances has develop into a lightning rod for dialogue throughout the judicial system in America. Killer Mike sat down with Bronx-bred rapper Kemba to delve deeper into the criminalization of lyrics in hip-hop for a part of the As We Communicate: Rap Music On Trial documentary, which premieres on Paramount+ on Tuesday (Feb. 27).
“They’re not gonna say that the artwork is a illustration of the creativeness and the thought. They’re gonna say it’s you. ‘You’re a killer, Mike! And we’re gonna lock your a– up.’ It’s a disgrace we reside in a rustic the place a white girl who killed her husband can write an article referred to as [Murder] Your Husband and that article shouldn’t be allowed for use,” the Run the Jewels rapper says within the unique clip shared with Billboard.
“The prosecutor needed to discover one other option to convict her. However I can say some random s–t on a music and prosecutor can clumsily with no rhythm can say that s–t to a decide as if he is aware of what the f–okay I’m speaking about or has some sort of experience I’m speaking about.”
The chilling As We Communicate: Rap Music on Trial debuted on the Sundance Movie Competition in January, and the documentary is carrying its momentum into the nationwide Parmount+ launch on Tuesday.
Kemba speaks with specialists from numerous fields to assault the usage of lyrics on trial by conversations with rappers corresponding to Killer Mike, in addition to teachers, politicians, authorized specialists and different music business executives.
Younger Thug is without doubt one of the newest examples of an artist having his lyrics weaponized towards him within the courtroom. Verses from his catalog have been heard from the prosecution as a part of the YSL RICO trial, which is at the moment underway.
Watch the clip under and stream the As We Communicate: Rap Music On Trial documentary beginning Tuesday (Feb. 27) on Paramount+.
