The use of rap lyrics in criminal court cases might have made Meek Mill reconsider how transparent he should be when discussing his music. The rapper and Rick Ross have been on a weekslong promotional run for their album, Too Good To Be True, which was released on Friday (Nov. 10).
“Locking us [up] for rapping got me scared to do [an] interview. Free Jeff. Free Lucci,” tweeted Mill on Friday. He made his comment just one day after an Atlanta magistrate said that 17 sets of Young Thug’s lyrics can be introduced as evidence related to crimes he and five others are accused of committing in a federal RICO case. The Atlanta artist’s trial is scheduled to begin with opening statements on Nov. 27.
His defense attorneys, hip hop artists and executives have spoken out against the controversial use of lyrics in court cases. Many argue that doing so is a violation of the First Amendment. However, on Thursday (Nov. 9), Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge Ural Glanville told Thug and his co-defendant’s legal teams, “They’re not prosecuting your clients because of the songs they wrote. They’re using the songs to prove other things your clients may have been involved in. I don’t think it’s an attack on free speech.”
Prosecutors allege that Thug’s and other YSL artists’ music may help corroborate claims of their alleged gang-related activity. “These are party admissions. They happen to come in the form of lyrics,” said prosecutor Mike Carlson in a Wednesday court hearing regarding the case.
Last September, fellow Atlanta native Rich Homie Quan admitted that the crackdown on hip hop music forced him to reconsider his lyrical content. “Well, for one, I really feel that we should protect Black art. Music is music. A lot of those songs are made from the third person anyway. I could have saw it, you could have saw it,” he said during an appearance on “Sway’s Universe.”
Thus far, states such as Washington, California and New York have passed legislation restricting the use of lyrics as evidence in criminal court cases. Thug has been incarcerated in the Fulton County Jail since May 2022. He faces up to 25 years behind bars if found guilty on various charges.