![]() In December 2022, Brian Steel, Young Thug’s attorney, filed a motion requesting for the court not to use his client’s lyrics as it would create prejudice among the jury. While his release sparked online controversy in the hip-hop world, the main concern that remains is the cause for why he was placed in the position in the first place - the racist practice of using lyrics against rappers. What’s more, the 65-count RICO indictment included the Atlanta rapper being charged with “an additional count of participating in street gang activity, three counts of violating the Georgia Controlled Substances Act, possession of a firearm while committing a felony and possession of a machine gun.”Īs shared in the aforementioned Boardroom report, fellow YSL rapper Gunna was released from Fulton County Jail after pleading guilty to a racketeering charge and accepting a plea deal. In May 2022, Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Lamar Williams, was arrested and charged with one count each of conspiring to violate Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and participating in criminal street gang activity behind his alleged gang, Young Slime Life, also known as YSL, ABC News reported in January around the start of his trial. Gunna and Young Thug attend 2021 Revolt Summit (Photo by Prince Williams/FilmMagic) Effects of Criminalization of Hip-Hop in Real-Time However, a potential first-of its kind federal law hopes to put the mistreatment to rest for good. Despite the groundbreaking genre reaching its 50th anniversary, the form of expression is still under attack, especially by the judicial system. Legendary pioneers such as N.W.A paved the way for hip-hop artists to actively use the genre as a creative outlet. ![]() Everything in the world came after this group.” “That’s what we used to combat all the forces that were pushing us from all angles: Whether it was money, gang-banging, crack, LAPD. “We had lyrics,” original N.W.A member Ice Cube said, according to the outlet. ![]() Along with radio stations refusing to play the Compton hip-hop group on its airwaves, politicians launched attacks that condemned their lyrics, according to the Los Angeles Times. A well-known example of its publicized criticism was seen during the rise of N.W.A in the 1980s. Rap is an art form that has been scrutinized since the earlier days of its prominence. Here’s what the potential reintroduction of the RAP Act could mean for the future of hip-hop, politics, and the lyrics-to-incarceration pipeline.
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