Young Thug, Gunna indictment criticized as racially biased for using rap lyrics as evidence | CBC News

Two American rappers were indicted on gang-related charges last week, with prosecutors citing their lyrics and music videos as evidence — a strategy that has been widely documented and criticized both in the U.S.

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.".

Scholars say that regardless of a defendant's guilt, using rap lyrics and music videos as evidence of crime unfairly targets young Black men and taps into stereotypes about the genre.

In Canada, more than a dozen cases have been documented in which rap lyrics were used both by prosecution and defence lawyers, but critics say the practice disregards important contextual elements of rap music, like artistic expression, the adoption of alter egos and the use of hyperbole.

After news of Young Thug and Gunna's indictment, Toronto rapper Cadence Weapon took to Twitter to condemn the use of lyrics as evidence of wrongdoing.

The YSL RICO case cherry-picks certain Young Thug lyrics as evidence of a criminal conspiracy?

That isn't to say that all rap lyrics are fictional or mined from other people — but there's a misconception that rappers are constantly using autobiographical material in their music, the rapper said.

The permitted use of rap lyrics as courtroom evidence has been observed in at least 19 criminal cases in Canada, according to a 2016 paper by University of Windsor law professor David Tanovich.

Included in the evidence against Skeete were the song lyrics "don't crack to the coppers," which prosecutors said demonstrated that he followed a code of silence. .

In another instance, Toronto rapper Heartless G, whose real name is Chael Mills, and associate Lavare Williams had six music videos and lyrics admitted as evidence against them during a murder trial.

Tanovich wrote in a 2016 article for The Walrus that the case marked the first time that so many rap lyrics and videos were admitted in a Canadian courtroom, "undoubtedly" swaying the jury.

In one standout case, a judge ruled that rap lyrics were inadmissible for evidence.

Before that case, only two cases had been identified in which lyrics were deemed inadmissible for evidence, including one which involved the serial killer Paul Bernardo, a white man.

Hilary Dudding, a Toronto criminal defence lawyer who defended Campbell during that trial, said that there is a significant parallel between the Young Thug/Gunna case and Canadian cases in which rap lyrics have been deemed admissible as evidence.

cases, documented in the 2019 book Rap on Trial: Race, Lyrics, and Guilt in America co-authored by Andrea Dennis, the vast majority have ended in conviction with lengthy sentences — and one in capital punishment.