I Don’t Think People Understand How Silly It Is To Use Song Lyrics As Evidence – Above the Law

Two
weeks
ago,
Young
Thug
was
arrested
on
RICO
charges.
RICO,
like
other
conspiracy
crimes,
can
come
with
heavy
sentences
that
often
encourage
folks
with
lower-level
involvement
in
activities
to
cooperate
or
snitch
in
hopes
of
lessening
their
time
or
getting
a
good
plea
deal.
But
who
needs
informants
when
you
have
their
own
lyrics?

The
88-page
indictment
filed
in
Georgia’s
Fulton
County
alleges
that
Young
Thug
—
an
Atlanta
rapper
who
co-wrote This
is
America with
Childish
Gambino
—
is
the
co-founder
of
a
gang
called
Young
Slime
Life
(YSL).
Gunna,
a
prominent
rap
artist
on
Young
Thug’s
YSL
label,
was
also
charged.

The
gang
has
allegedly
committed
multiple
murders,
shootings
and
carjackings
over
the
last
decade
or
so,
promoting
its
activities
via
song
lyrics
and
social
media,
according
to
prosecutors
involved
in the
indictment.

The
two
are
charged
with
conspiring
to
violate
the
RICO
Act,
a
U.S.
law
that
targets
criminal
organizations.
The
indictment
refers
to
multiple
music
videos
by
Young
Thug,
including
the
following
lyric:
“I
never
killed
anybody
but
I
got
something
to
do
with
that
body,”
and,
“I
told
them
to
shoot
hundred
rounds.”

For
decades,
rap
as
a
genre

has
had
a
reputation
for
realness.
This
is
not
the
first
time
that
lyrics
have
been
used
to
prosecute
a
rap
artist;

Tay-K
and

YNW
Melly
are
breathing
examples
of
that.
And
while
trying
to
imprison
someone
based
on
lyrics
might
seem
like
it’s
too
flimsy
to
a
layperson
to
stick,
not
all
juries
feel
that
way.
Going
in
on
a
hunch
and
a
story
is
a
thing
prosecutors
do,
and
if
you
don’t
believe
me,
get
a
load
of
this
classic
“joke”
from
a
guy
who’s
done
his
fair
share
of
it:

Some
courts,
namely
New
Jersey’s
Supreme
Court,
have
been
seemingly
influenced
by
art
criticism
concerning
major
works
like

Catullus
16
and
realized
that
distinctions
can
be
made
between
an
artist
and
one’s
art:

“One
would
not
presume
that
Bob
Marley,
who
wrote
the
well-known
song
‘I
Shot
the
Sheriff,’
actually
shot
a
sheriff,
or
that
Edgar
Allan
Poe
buried
a
man
beneath
his
floorboards,
as
depicted
in
his
short
story
‘The
Tell-Tale
Heart,’
simply
because
of
their
respective
artistic
endeavor
on
those
subjects,”
the
justices
wrote
in
their
decision.
“The
defendant’s
lyrics
should
receive
no
different
treatment.”

But
that’s
a
bunch
of
applesauce.
If
prosecutors
are
gonna
do
it,

which
they
clearly
want
to
do
when
it
comes
to
Black
folks
and
their
lyrics,
I
think
they
should
do
it!
But
I
just
want
some
consistency.
Act
on
the
impulse
to
go
for
easy
targets
like
Shooter
McShootem
on
threating
with
a
deadly
weapon
based
on
his
classic

ISTBU:

Yeah,
ni***
(?)
shit
ni***,
you
already
know
what
time
it
is,
ni***
I
know
I’ll
tell
you
this
though,
I
go
to
McDonalds
all
the
motherfuckin’
time,
until
the
motherfuckin’..
shake
machine
don’t
work
Imma
shoot
that
bitch
up,
ni***
Fuck,
ni***,
got
me
fucked
up
Man,
go
to
the
club,
you
talm
bout
60
dollars
a
60
dollars?!
Ni***,
I’ll
shoot
this
bitch
up
Ni***,
got
me
fucked
up,
ni***
The
fuck
is
you
talm
bout,
ni***
What?!
150
dollars?
For
a
bottle
of
Moet?!
This
bullshit
ni***,
man
I’ll
shoot
this
bitch
up,
ni***
got
me
fucked
up
ni***,
fuck
is
you
talm
bout

But
I
don’t
want
them
to
stop
there.
I
want
those
bastards
to
go
full
Musical
Inquisition™.
Cull
the
Billboard
for
admissions
of
guilt.

All
of
them.
YouTube
and
Soundcloud
—
get
to
collecting.
Fear
not,
I
know
this
task
is
monumental;
I
will
get
the
work
started
for
you!
Here
are
some
of
the
other
musicians
you
can
take
down
to
boost
your
reputation—
you
merely
have
to
branch
out
into
literally
any
of
the
other
genres
whose
artists
aren’t
majority
Black.

I
say
we
apply
these
same
textualist
standards
to
the
Beatles.
Paul
McCartney
and
Ringo
Starr
have
been
walking
freely
for
far
too
long.
I’m
not
too
picky,
either
one
of
’em
can
serve
time
for
the
line,
“I’d
rather
see
you
dead,
little
girl
/
Than
to
be
with
another
man.”

The
Black
Dahlia
Murder
–

Apex

If
a
rapper
named
Young
Thug
having
a
group
called
Young
Stoner
Life
is
a
clear
gang
tie,
surely
naming
your
band

after
an
infamous
murder
victim
and
putting
out
these
lyrics
makes
you
guilty
of
something:

As
I’m
blissfully
showered
in
blood
I
shake
with
violent
rapture
as
I
gaze
at
my
delicious
feast
I
cannot
stop
my
salivation
My
addiction
to
murder
has
peaked
Kneel
only
to
my
sick
fixations
A
complete
symphony
of
your
screams

Oh
the
cruelty
of
death!
I
wield
infinite

Lured
by
the
cries
of
your
damnation
I
collect
ornaments
of
the
dead
Skin
tingling
with
anticipation
I
sever
the
last
victim’s
head
to
be
put
on
display

Carrie
Underwood
–

Before
He
Cheats

This
song
is
a
better
treatise
on
property
destruction
than
most
wrecking
ball
manuals.
You’ve
probably
heard
the
song,
but
here
are
the
guilty
lyrics
just
in
case.

I
dug
my
key
into
the
side
of
his
pretty
little
souped-up
four-wheel
drive
Carved
my
name
into
his
leather
seats
I
took
a
Louisville
slugger
to
both
headlights
I
slashed
a
hole
in
all
four
tires
Maybe
next
time
he’ll
think
before
he
cheats

I’m
sorry,
Carrie,
but
infidelity
is
not
a
defense
to
trespass
to
chattels.

While
there
many
more
examples
of
incriminating
lyrics,
it
would
be
sloppy
of
me
to
address
the
elephant
in
the
room:
exculpatory
lyrics.
Prosecutors
hate

this
one
trick!

Frankly,
the
only
chance
prosecutors
really
have
of
keeping
their
pretty
arrest
records
once
the

Shaggy’s
Box
of
lyricism
has
been
opened
is
to
stop
anchoring
jail
time
with
people’s
poetry.
Even
if
the
suspect’s
lyrics
are
violent
or
grotesque.
Even
if
Future
just

openly
promises
to
commit
perjury
—
it’s
music
people!
Treat
their
art
as
art
and
not
a
recorded
confessional
and
you’d
probably
end
up
with
a
few
more
bangers
on
your
playlist.

Might
have
to
change
how
you
listen
though.

Lastly,

[I]t’s
proper
for
a
devoted
poet
to
be
moral

Himself,
[but]
in
no
way
is
it
necessary
for
his
poems.

In
point
of
fact,
these
have
wit
and
charm,

If
they
are
sensitive
and
a
little
shameless,

And
can
arouse
an
itch…

Thugger
Thugger
Baby

Young
Thug,
Gunna
Indictment
Spotlights
Use
Of
Rap
Lyrics
As
Courtroom
Evidence
[CBC]

---

Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s.
 He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boatbuilder
who
cannot
swim, a
published
author
on
critical
race
theory,
philosophy,
and
humor,
and
has
a
love
for
cycling
that
occasionally
annoys
his
peers.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and
by
tweet
at @WritesForRent.