Kevin Liles Launches Rap Music On Trial Petition, Amid Young Thug RICO Indictment
Music executive Kevin Liles has started a petition in the hopes that the use of lyrics within hip hop music will be decriminalized now that prosecutors attempting to cite them as confessions to crimes in courtrooms across the country.
The “Rap Music On Trial: Protect Black Art” petition states that the practice of using rap lyrics on trial is not only a “violation of First Amendment protections for speech and creative expression,” it also “ punishes already marginalized communities and silences their stories of family, struggle, survival, and triumph.”
With a goal of 5,000 signatures, the petition comes on the heels of the Atlanta Racketeeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act involving rapper Young Thug, Gunna, and several artists under his Young Stoner Life Records who are facing more than 50 allegations.
WSB-TV reports that the indictment against says that Young Thug and YSL members engaged in activities including:
- Preserving, protecting, and enhancing the reputation, power, and territory of the enterprise through acts of racketeering activity, including murder, assault, and threats of violence;
- Preserving, protecting, and enhancing the reputation, power, and territory of the enterprise by the posting of messages, images, videos, and songs, demonstrating allegiance to the enterprise and a willingness to engage in violence on its behalf;
- Maintaining armed individuals ready and willing to preserve, protect and enhance the reputation, power, and territory of the enterprise through the use of violence;
- Obtaining money, weapons, and other property through acts of racketeering activity, including robbery, theft, and the unlawful sale and distribution of drugs;
- Obstructing law enforcement investigations and court proceedings through witness intimidation and attacks upon law enforcement officers.
According to ABC News, lyrics from “Anybody” and tracks from YSL’s 2020 compilation album, like “Slime Language 2,” “Take it to Trial,” “Ski,” and “Slatty,” will be used as evidence. This line from the 2021 song “Slime Sh*t” has been referenced by prosecutors: “I killed his man in front of his momma.”
Bonds for Young Thug and Gunna have both been denied.
View the “Rap Music on Trial: Protect Black Art” petition here.
