Hip-hop lyrics have increasingly been introduced as evidence in hundreds of court cases across 40 states in the United States. Dallas artist James Broadnax, 19, is the latest in a long list of rappers who have been convicted (and in his case sentenced to death) partly because his lyrics suggested a link to gang affiliations and shootings.
Hip-hop is not the only art form that can be considered violent. You could easily make the same argument about Martin Scorsese’s filmography, but somehow juries across America have been treating hip-hop lyrics as confessions for years.
