Drake, John Legend & Megan Thee Stallion Amongst Many Artists Advocating In opposition to Rap Lyrics As Courtroom Proof

Drake, John Legend, Megan Thee Stallion and lots of musicians from hip-hop and past are uniting to guard rap music from the legislation.

Music business leaders got here collectively to signal a letter titled, Artwork on Trial: Shield Black Artwork. The letter protests the usage of rap lyrics as court docket proof to criminalize Black artists and censor inventive expression. Rapper Younger Thug is at present incarcerated on Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) expenses that cite his tune lyrics as proof.

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“In courtrooms throughout America, the development of prosecutors utilizing artists’ inventive expression towards them is going on with troubling frequency,” the letter reads. “Whatever the medium — music, the visible arts, writing, tv, movie — followers implicitly perceive that inventive expression is rooted in what artists see and listen to; it’s a mirrored image of the occasions we reside in.

“The ultimate work is a product of the artist’s imaginative and prescient and creativeness.”

Drake, Legend and Megan provided their signatures alongside 50 Cent, Alicia Keys, Huge Sean, Black Eyed Peas, Camila Cabello, Christina Aguilera, Coldplay, DJ Khaled, Jack Harlow, Lainey Wilson, Mary J. Blige, Michelle Department, Normani, Travis and others.

“Rappers are storytellers, creating whole worlds populated with complicated characters who can play each hero and villain,” the letter continues. “However greater than some other artwork type, rap lyrics are primarily getting used as confessions in an try and criminalize Black creativity and artistry.”

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California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a landmark invoice in October. The invoice, the primary of its form, restricted the usage of rap lyrics as proof in court docket.

“Artists of every kind ought to be capable of create with out the concern of unfair and prejudicial prosecution,” the governor stated on the time. “California’s tradition and leisure business set tendencies world wide, and it’s becoming that our state is taking a nation-leading position to guard inventive expression and make sure that artists should not criminalized below biased insurance policies.”