*The older rappers (from the ’80s and ’90s) are to blame for today’s incidents of Hip Hop artists incriminating themselves in their lyrics, says Charlamagne Tha God. Speaking on “The Breakfast Club,” the radio personality chimed in on the ongoing debate around rappers self-incriminating themselves in hip hop by pointing fingers at the old-generation rappers who “lied” in their music.
The next generation of rappers believed these lies and ended up pursuing a life of crime or adopting a thuggish persona.
“A lot of this is our fault, and the reason it’s our fault is because so many rappers from our generation in the 1900s were lying, lying their asses off,” Charlamagne said. “And it made a bunch of kids think the way to get in the game was to be the biggest criminal alive. And guess what? You can’t do that.”
He added that one cannot be the biggest criminal alive while also being a rapper at the same time.
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“But it’s our fault because we should have never let rappers lie like that for entertainment ’cause if it’s just art, then we have to demand that some of these people change the content of their art because all it’s doing is getting a bunch of people indicted and influencing a generation of kids wrong, period,” he stated.
These sentiments come after the massive RICO indictment that hit Gunna, Young Thugg and many other YSL members in May. The indictment has 56 counts and claims the aforementioned are a “criminal street gang” responsible for a string of violent crimes, including murder, in the Atlanta area.
Investigators partly relied on various lyrics from Thugga and his team to help build the RICO case. However, many legal experts have remarked that it is unlawful to go in that direction and that it is steep in racial bias.
Fani Willis, the Fulton County District Attorney, came out recently to defend using rap lyrics as criminal evidence. At that same press conference, she announced a fresh round of RICO indictments against yet another alleged Atlanta gang.
She said, “I think if you decide to admit your crimes over a beat, I’m gonna use it. You do not get to commit crimes in my county and then decide to brag on it, which you do that for a form of intimidation and to further the gang, and not be held responsible.”
She added that she will continue to do that even if people continue to be angry with her.
“I have some legal advice: don’t confess to crimes on rap lyrics if you do not want them used — or at least get out of my county,” She said.
Meanwhile, many states and lawmakers are out to fight back against the trend. Already, several bills are being proposed in recent months seeking to limit the admissibility of lyrics as evidence in court.
Congressmen Hank Johnson (D-GA) and Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) in July introduced the Restoring Artistic Protection Act (RAP Act) in the U.S. House of Representatives. Last week, California lawmakers, aiming to protect creative expression in criminal proceedings, passed similar legislation. The bill awaits approval from Governor Gavin Newsom.
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