Publication Date
Summer 2025
Abstract
In the last few years news headlines have been filled with stories of high-profile trials in which celebrity rappers like Young Thug, Tekashi 6ix9ine (now “6IX9INE”) and Bobby Shmurda have been confronted by prosecutors with lyrics they wrote. Of course, the use of rap lyrics in these trials is no accident. Since the 1990s criminal defendants who happen to pen rap lyrics are increasingly likely to have their lyrics admitted against them at trial. This is happening all over the country—in federal and state courts—at every stage of criminal proceedings. This Note will focus on the use of rap lyrics at trial in cases where a defendant has been charged with gang-related crimes.
Despite rap lyrics being creative expressions and not always depicting real events, prosecutors have successfully admitted them to prove that a defendant did the crime with which he is charged or to demonstrate his unethical character to a jury. Rap lyrics are admitted at trial at higher rates than any other music genre. Black and Latinx men are also the demographic most likely to have their rap lyrics admitted against them. Thus, prosecutors’ fixation on rap lyrics demonstrates the racism that animates the entire criminal justice system.
In addition to briefly discussing the cases of Young Thug, Tekashi 6ix9ine and Bobby Shmurda, this Note will spotlight stories from lesser-known defendant-rappers across the country who have had their lyrics used against them at trial. In all these cases, prosecutors used Federal Rules of Evidence 401 and 403 or their state-specific corollaries to introduce rap lyrics into evidence. This Note will examine the various arguments prosecutors and defense attorneys make regarding whether these rules should admit or preclude rap lyrics from evidence. Finally, this Note will examine proposed or implemented reforms across the country that either make it more difficult for prosecutors to admit lyrics or categorically ban the admission of rap lyrics into evidence.
Recommended Citation
Jasmine Ross, Note, On the Wax: How Prosecutors Weaponize Rap Lyrics at Trial, 28 CUNY L. Rev. F. 29 (2025)