{"id":2357,"date":"2020-02-18T17:50:15","date_gmt":"2020-02-18T17:50:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/?p=2357"},"modified":"2020-02-19T19:26:52","modified_gmt":"2020-02-19T19:26:52","slug":"arachnophonia-rap-on-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/2020\/02\/arachnophonia-rap-on-trial\/","title":{"rendered":"Arachnophonia: Rap On Trial"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note:<\/strong> Arachnophonia<\/a> is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library<\/a>\u2018s collection.<\/p>\n

All links included in these posts will take you to either the library catalog record for the item in question<\/a> or to additional relevant<\/a> information from<\/a> around the web<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s installment of Arachnophonia<\/a> is by student worker William (class of 2021) and features a new book by UR faculty member Erik Nielson<\/a> and Andrea L. Dennis<\/a> of the University of Georgia School of Law entitled Rap On Trial: Race, Lyrics, and Guilt in America<\/a><\/strong>. Thanks, William!<\/em><\/p>\n

(Please note that this piece was concurrently published in UR’s student newspaper The Collegian<\/em> as well!) <\/a><\/p>\n

Rap On Trial: Race, Lyrics, and Guilt in America<\/a><\/em>
\nby Erik Nielson and Andrea L. Dennis<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Rap<\/p>\n

Five Deeply Concerning Takeaways from UR professor Erik Nielson\u2019s new book Rap On Trial: Race, Lyrics and Guilt in America<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In their new book, Rap On Trial: Race, Lyrics and Guilt in America<\/a><\/em>, University of Richmond professor Erik Nielson<\/a> and Chair of Law at the University of Georgia School of Law, Andrea Dennis<\/a>, rebuke prosecutors’ use of rap lyrics as evidence of a defendant\u2019s guilt in U.S. criminal trials.<\/p>\n

In doing so, they document how the U.S. criminal justice system’s policing of hip hop and rap music has evolved, and elucidate the dire consequences and First-Amendment concerns of using rap lyrics to convict and incarcerate young men of color.<\/p>\n

Here are five deeply concerning takeaways: <\/p>\n

1. Rap lyrics are almost always permitted as evidence to prosecute serious crimes like murder, robbery and drug trafficking<\/strong><\/p>\n

Throughout their research, Nielson and Dennis have identified more than 500 cases across the U.S. in which rap lyrics were used as evidence in a criminal trial. In some cases, the prosecution introduced a defendant\u2019s lyrics as substantiating evidence of the defendant\u2019s guilt in some crime. Other times, the lyrics were the crime.<\/p>\n

According to the New Jersey ACLU, rap lyrics were permitted as evidence in 80 percent of cases that considered their admissibility. But Nielson and Dennis say the number, according to their research, is significantly higher.<\/p>\n

2. Police and prosecutors target young, black and Latino amateur rappers<\/strong><\/p>\n

In roughly 95 percent of cases involving rap lyrics, the defendant is a young, black or Latino man with a local fan base, if any fan base at all. Because of their social status, amateur rappers, in the eyes of police and prosecutors, are not real artists.<\/p>\n

3. Rap lyrics are used to convince jurors of the defendant\u2019s \u201ctrue character\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Dennis and Nielson’s analysis, police and prosecutors nationwide interpret and present to jurors rap music as autobiographical. A training manual written by a California prosecutor says that, through music lyrics, prosecutors “can invade and exploit the defendant’s true personality.” The manual tells prosecutors not to be fooled by the defendant’s nice court attire.<\/p>\n

“The real defendant is a criminal wearing a do-rag and throwing a gang sign,” according to the manual. <\/p>\n

In the hands of prosecutors, rap lyrics are taken out of context and construed as accurate depictions of the defendant\u2019s real life, despite the art form’s well-known tradition of hyperbole. Because of this, defendant\u2019s will often plead guilty in exchange for a lesser sentence, knowing their lyrics, presented by prosecutors, might significantly bias the jurors.<\/p>\n

To introduce lyrics as evidence, prosecutors often argue that the lyrics they wish to introduce are evidence of the defendant’s motive, knowledge or ability to commit the crime in question. If a defendant is being accused of murder, for instance, prosecutors will cherry-pick from the defendant’s rap lyrics the lyrics most evocative of murder, and argue before the jury that the rap lyrics at least prove the defendant is capable of murder.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors have used rap lyrics to argue for harsher sentences. Dennis and Nielson have identified thirty cases in which prosecutors used a defendant\u2019s lyrics to argue that the defendant\u2019s \u201ctrue character,\u201d as exposed in his lyrics, was so beyond any hope of rehabilitation that he should be sentenced to death.<\/p>\n

In at least one case, prosecutors used a defendant\u2019s lyrical abilities to argue that he was mentally stable and intelligent enough to be executed. <\/p>\n

4. Rap lyrics and videos are used to warrant \u201cgang enhancements\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

If prosecutors can show that the crime the defendant is standing trial for was committed on behalf of or in association with a gang, prosecutors can request a \u201cgang enhancement,\u201d which can double a defendant’s sentence. In some states, gang enhancements allow for juveniles to be charged as adults. <\/p>\n

Prosecutors regularly use rap lyrics to seek gang enhancements. If a defendant references gang themes in his lyrics, or even just mentions certain neighborhoods, prosecutors will use those rap lyrics to connect the defendant’s crime to gang activity.<\/p>\n

Increasingly common is the use of rap music videos to justify gang enhancements. Dennis and Nielson have identified cases in which prosecutors used rap music videos to justify a gang enhancement for defendants who were seen in the background of a music video.<\/p>\n

5. “Gang experts” routinely use rap music and videos to surveil entire communities<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nielson and Dennis make clear that, although \u201cRap On Trial\u201d is focused on the use of rap lyrics as evidence in criminal trials, police and so-called “gang experts” nationwide use hip hop, rap music and videos to surveil communities, to identify suspects and to justify arrests, all before rap enters the courtroom. <\/p>\n

Michael Render<\/a>, also known as \u201cKiller Mike\u201d from the Atlanta, Georgia, hip hop duo \u201cRun The Jewels<\/a>,\u201d is a close friend of Nielson\u2019s and wrote the foreword to Rap On Trial<\/a><\/em>. <\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, aspiring rap artists need to know they are being targeted by the authorities,\u201d Render wrote, \u201cand they need to balance their right to free speech–and their desire to push the envelope of free speech–with the reality that police are watching.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note: Arachnophonia is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library\u2018s collection. All links included in these posts will take you to either the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2182,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[61217,15223,15236,668],"tags":[120713,61217,120712,720,120715,61214,120718,68895,13996,61311,120720,5977,37978,35898,84621,120719,120716],"class_list":["post-2357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arachnophonia","category-collection","category-guest-post","category-in-the-news","tag-andrea-l-dennis","tag-arachnophonia","tag-erik-nielson","tag-faculty","tag-free-speech","tag-hip-hop","tag-hip-hop-culture","tag-law","tag-rap","tag-rap-music","tag-rap-on-trial","tag-student","tag-student-workers","tag-students","tag-university-of-georgia","tag-ur-faculty-publications","tag-ur-spcs"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgMV3E-C1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2182"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2357\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}