Rap Act
The 2024 Democratic National Convention has had its fair share of flashy moments – from Lil Jon’s “Turn Down for What” cameo during roll call to Patti LaBelle’s gorgeous rendition of “You Are My Friend” — but the primetime show isn’t the only thing happening in Chicago this week (Aug. 19-22).
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In addition to the main event, which takes place in Chi-Town’s United Center arena, the morning and afternoons are filled with different council and caucus meetings that fire voters up, educate them on grassroots campaign strategies and break down the party’s 2024 platform. Billboard was able to sit in on Tuesday afternoon’s youth council meeting (Aug. 20), where Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Vice President Harris’ running mate, made an appearance to remind young voters of their power and responsibility for their own futures now that Dems are seemingly passing the baton along to a new generation.
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Before Walz took the podium, Texas Rep. Greg Casar addressed the room, and by the end of his remarks, nearly every delegate in the room was on their feet. “It is going to be your energy and your work that is necessary to deliver the transformational change that the vast majority of this country wants,” he proclaimed. “Too often we confuse the political center with the moral center!” Casar, who currently represents Texas’ 35th district and was formerly endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, was connecting — and he was connecting with the country’s newest and youngest voters.
Though he only joined Congress about two years ago, Casar has certainly made his progressive presence felt – from leading a nine-hour thirst strike in 2023 to urging President Biden not to recognize the coalition claiming victory in the 2024 Pakistani general election.
Billboard caught up with Rep. Casar after the youth council to talk about some key pieces of music legislation currently floating in Congress, his understanding of “brat summer,” and his love for Grupo Frontera and Peso Pluma.
What are your thoughts on the RAP Act? Can you commit to supporting it in the House?
I’m a supporter of the bill. Before being in Congress, I was on the Austin City Council and led on a lot of music issues in what is the live music capital of the world. I really came to understand during the pandemic that supporting both recording artists and live music is important not just for those industries and not just for music lovers but [also] for building community and joy, and making expensive cities worth living in in the first place, you know.
I think Leader Jeffries and Vice President Harris have embraced pop music, and hip-hop in particular, as part of their events, and as a part of their shared identity with so many of our communities. I hope that we can remind them of that as we prioritize bills like the RAP Act, because it’s not only a clear civil rights bill, but we [also] want people to be able to express themselves without being worried that it’s going to be used in a court case against them. I think that Speaker Jeffries and [Vice] President Harris would be supportive, not only because they understand the importance of hip-hop to American culture, but also because they’re civil rights-first elected officials.
In light of the DOJ suing Live Nation-Ticketmaster, where do you stand on the Fans First Act?
I’m trying to remember the details of Fans First versus all the different ideas on how to crack down on monopolies in the ticketing industry, [but] I’m just generally supportive of whatever it is that we can get done to make it easier to buy tickets, and for more of that money to actually get to the people that make the music and do the tour.
I find that people in places like Austin are actually increasingly happy to pay a decent cover if they know that it’s going to the artist then. So whatever it is that we can do to take on monopolies in the music industry I think is really important. It’s the same problem we have with meat; only four companies control nearly 90% of the meat in the country. The same issues we have in tech we have in music as well.
In that vein, what was the last concert you went to?
I always make sure that when I’m back home in Austin, I go see some shows. Last night, [I got to see] my friend Gina Chavez, who’s a Latin Grammy nominee, play live here. The weekend before that, we had Hot Summer Nights in Austin where a bunch of our clubs on Red River were opened up for free shows, so it was awesome to see a bunch of acts play there.
I just missed seeing Grupo Frontera in Austin because I was over here. I’m a big fan of Grupo Frontera and Peso Pluma. It’s just been awesome to see them really break out. Peso Pluma actually went to middle school in my district in San Antonio for a little while; he was between Mexico and San Antonio. A bigger arena show that I’ve been to recently was Burna Boy. For my birthday, we saw Chicano Batman. They played the 9:30 Club. People catch me at the $25 shows! Also, Thundercat! I’ve seen Thundercat twice in D.C.
What do you think of the Harris-Walz campaign’s embrace of pop music? Do you think it ever veers on the side of pandering, or do you think that they have their finger on their pulse in a smart and balanced way?
I think that you just got to have fun with it, man. If a politician likes that song, good for them! I think that the more we can be our real selves and realize that we’re just normal people, that’s gonna speak for itself. If I’m at your house, put on your playlist, don’t put on the playlist you think I’m going to like. Put on your stuff!
You get that feeling from this campaign? That they’re putting on their playlists?
I think they’re putting on what they like, and I would encourage them to really get relaxed with that. I think people are looking for authenticity.
How do you understand “brat summer?”
[Laughs.] I feel like its meaning has been contorted and twisted, you know? It started out [with] Charli XCX having a good time, then it turned into everybody having a good time. And now Kamala Harris might be president!
What is your personal song of the summer of 2024?
There’s this Karol G song, “Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido,” it’s a great one. I’ve been on some long drives this summer, and it’s one of the ones that I [replayed] a decent amount. It’s hot in Texas, like 105° today, so it’s a good “rolling down the windows” and “chilling on the lawn” song.
In June 2022, Jeffery Williams, the rapper professionally known as Young Thug, said from jail: “I always use my music as a form of artistic expression, and I see now that Black artists and rappers don’t have that freedom.”
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Rap is the most important musical development of the last half-century. It is a Black art form that reflects, comments upon and helps define the American experience. Like other artistic expressions, rap lyrics are often fictitious and hyperbolic; they cannot be assumed to be autobiographical. And like famous surrealist painters, some rappers combine their experiences with flights of imagination, leaving the audience to decide what is “real” and what is not. Other rappers write wholly fictional accounts without labeling them as such — sometimes for commercial appeal. As Young Thug explained to XXL Magazine in 2016: “I started doing a thuggish style … I started to make cool trap music … Them songs have made millions of dollars but them songs are not me.”
Just like other artists, the creators of rap music are protected by the First Amendment; as such, they are entitled to create ambiguous art that does not separate fact from fiction.
Unlike other types of artists, however, rappers find their art used against them in criminal court, as overly aggressive prosecutors charge rappers with having committed the alleged crimes depicted in their lyrics. It seems the ultimate rap battle is between the First Amendment and the Sixth Amendment — pitting the freedom of expression against the right to a fair trial. The racial injustice of this tactic is obvious. Directors of horror and action movies are not forced to defend themselves in criminal court against allegations that their films depict actual events. Nor must the creators of country or death metal music justify their songs to a judge or jury as fiction — no matter how violent their lyrics may be. Only rappers are singled out in this way.
Hearteningly, the music industry and the social justice community have joined forces with lawmakers in opposition to this egregious prosecutorial overreach. For instance, California amended its rules of evidence to place additional burdens upon prosecutors who seek “to admit as evidence” of criminality “a form of creative expression.” In New York, proposed legislation similarly seeks to create a presumption against admitting evidence of a defendant’s creative expression in criminal trials. And, at the federal level, the Restoring Artistic Protection Act (RAP Act), seeking to shield artists from the misuse of their lyrics in both criminal and civil proceedings, has been reintroduced in Congress. This bill has support from groups such as the Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC), the Recording Academy, the Black Music Collective and SAG-AFTRA. All of these pieces of legislation aim to safeguard artists from prosecutors who want to use their creative expressions as evidence in criminal trials — ensuring rap artists enjoy the benefits of both the First and Sixth Amendments of our Constitution.
While these efforts are commendable, a significant loophole remains within the domain of criminal conspiracy prosecutions. A conspiracy is a crime where two or more people agree to commit an unlawful act, and someone in the conspiracy takes an affirmative step — or “overt act” toward the act. While the actual and proposed California, New York and federal statutes would make it harder for prosecutors to use rap lyrics as evidence of a crime, they do nothing to prevent prosecutors from alleging that rap lyrics themselves are an element of a crime — specifically, the so-called “overt act” element of a conspiracy crime. Additional legislation is urgently needed at the state and federal levels to prevent this from happening.
Conspiracy charges are darlings of prosecutors because many criminal conspiracy statutes permit the government to charge each alleged conspirator with all crimes committed by the conspiracy, so long as the alleged conspirator: (1) knowingly and willfully joined the conspiracy; and (2) committed an “overt act” in support of the conspiracy. Thus, by alleging that a rapper’s lyrics constitute an “overt act,” a prosecutor can seek to hold that rapper criminally responsible for crimes that the rapper did not even commit but rather were committed by other members of the “conspiracy.” In other words, rappers can be charged with and convicted for other people’s crimes merely by virtue of rapping. This prosecutorial tactic is literally criminalizing rap music.
The ongoing Young Thug/YSL trial vividly illustrates the urgent need for legislation banning this tactic. In that case, the prosecution has charged the defendants under a criminal conspiracy statute, Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) law. The grand jury indictment characterizes YSL as a gang engaged in criminal activities, with the Grammy-winning artist purportedly at the forefront. To link various defendants to the alleged “conspiracy,” and thus to ensnare them into the defendants’ seats at trial, the prosecution has alleged that specific sets of rap lyrics constitute “overt acts.” On their face, these lyrics are a mode of artistic expression, involving clever wordplay and other forms of humor. Lyrics cited by prosecutors include the following:
“Red just like Elmo but I never f—in’ giggle”— Jeffery “Young Thug” Williams
“Where you from, I’m from Bleveland, throw your set up” — Wunnie “Slimelife Shawty” Lee
“I shot at his mommy, now he no longer mention me” — Jeffery “Young Thug” Williams
Without legislation preventing these or other rap lyrics from being charged as “overt acts,” prosecutors will continue to use them to bolster their cases. We call for the music industry to unite with its allies to press for the introduction and passage of such legislation. Until that happens, the music industry and its allies should press candidates running for district attorney to promise not to prosecute rap lyrics as “overt acts.” Moreover, and until new legislation passes, criminal defense and music industry attorneys should advise their clients about the risks of prosecutions for merely creating rap, however outrageous and unfair that may be. Otherwise, rappers will continue to navigate a precarious line that could see their lyrics construed as a crime, undermining the fundamental principles of artistic freedom and raising urgent questions about racial and creative justice in the courtroom. Rap artists should not have to choose between their First and Sixth Amendment rights.
Jeffrey Movit is a civil litigator in New York and Los Angeles whose practice areas include copyright, trademark, defamation and entertainment law. He has been called the “lawyer to the stars” by the New York Post, and he was named by Billboard magazine as one of the “Top Music Lawyers” for 2022, 2023, and 2024.
Priya Chaudhry is a nationally-known, award-winning criminal defense trial attorney who routinely handles high-profile, high-stakes criminal cases. With nearly 50 jury trials in 25 years of practice, The Hollywood Reporter named Ms. Chaudhry as one of the “25 Power Lawyers” it recognized as “Hollywood’s Troubleshooters.”
Awais Arshad is a criminal defense attorney at ChaudhryLaw, a Fulbright Scholar and barred in multiple jurisdictions, including New York, England & Wales and Pakistan.
Representatives from the Black Music Coalition (BMAC), the Recording Academy and SAG-AFTRA came together with Congressmen Hank Johnson (D-GA) and Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) on Capitol Hill Thursday (April 27) to reintroduce the Restoring Artistic Protection (RAP) Act, a bill that would limit the use of song lyrics in court — a practice that disproportionately affects Black artists working in rap and hip-hop.
“Since the 1990s, there are hundreds literally hundreds of documented cases where prosecutors use lyrics as criminal evidence in court and this practice disproportionately affects rap artists,” said Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr. during a press conference announcing the bill’s reintroduction. “But this act is absolutely not just about hip-hop artists. Silencing creative expression is a violation against all artists and all forms of creative expression. The Restoring Artistic Protection Act affirms that every single artist, no matter the discipline, should be able to express themselves without fear of prosecution.”
SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher, who was also in attendance, advocated for the First Amendment rights of musicians. “Rap music actually is folk music, because folk music is the voice of the people,” she said. “I urge Congress to pass the RAP act to ensure fair and equitable treatment in the justice system.”
First introduced in July 2022, if passed, the RAP Act would be the first federal law to limit the use of lyrics in criminal cases.
Also participating in the press conference was 300 Elektra Entertainment CEO Kevin Liles, who urged bipartisan support for the bill: “For the first time in a long time, I have hope…in groups on the right and the left both saying that this is against the values of Americans.”
The revived interest in the issue of rap lyrics being used in court came about due to the May 2022 indictment against rappers Young Thug and Gunna along with dozens of others on RICO charges, with prosecutors claiming their group YSL was not really a record label called “Young Stoner Life” but a violent Atlanta street gang called “Young Slime Life.” The 88-page indictment cited lyrics and music videos as evidence, including quotes from Young Thug songs including, “I never killed anybody but got something to do with that body” and “I killed his man in front of his momma.”
Though Young Thug remains in custody ahead of trial, Gunna was released in December after pleading guilty to a gang-related charge.
On the state level, a similar bill in California known as the Decriminalizing Artistic Expression Act was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom in September. In New York, another bill known as “Rap Music on Trial” passed the state’s Senate in May but failed to secure a vote in the New York Assembly before the end of last year’s legislative session. Comparable bills are making their way through the sate legislatures in both Louisiana and Missouri.
“As a music creator myself, I know how important it is that we safeguard artists’ freedom to create at all costs, and to work to eradicate the biases that come with the unconstitutional practice of using lyrics as evidence, which disproportionately affects artists of color, and penalizes the creativity of Black and brown fields,” added songwriter-producer-artist Rico Love, who serves as chair of the Recording Academy’s Black Music Collective.
Love added, “Music makers are storytellers who have provided important insight into our country throughout history. We have the responsibility to protect them and their works of creative expression, which helped define American culture.”
The announcement of the RAP Act’s reintroduction followed the Recording Academy’s annual GRAMMYs on the Hill, a two-day event that honored Pharrell Williams, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Bill Cassidy and connected music creators with members of Congress to advocate for the RAP Act, the HITS Act, the American Music Fairness Act and reform in the live event ticketing space.
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