Should hip-hop or rap music lyrics be used by law enforcement?

[Sekuru Dhorofiya]

Do y'all agree or disagree with the idea of hip-hop or rap music lyrics being used by law enforcement in order to convict rappers in the courts of law when they are charged with that type of evidence?

 

[Tanonoka]

First of all, hip-hop music is generally supposed to be constructive nonviolent entertainment but there are several recording artists who take things a little further when they make hardcore rap music about their affiliation to organized crime and all the illegal stuff they have ever done e.g. murder, selling drugs, pimping (forced prostitution), racketeering, money laundering, etc.

So if police officers (or the Feds) launch an investigation and are successful to connect the dots and prove everything beyond any reasonable doubt. Why should there be an issue that Rap lyrics were utilized as criminal evidence?

In other words, you can't be a true gangster (or a career criminal) and rapper at the same time. You have to choose one lane and stick to it because a career criminal is supposed to move in silence i.e., no social media, no doing business on the phone, no emails, no rap music, etc.

 

[Nolwazi Kwayedza]

If you keep campaigning you will get elected, there is a difference between fiction and reality. Furthermore, if you're a Hip Hop artist and don't want any problems with rival gangs (i.e., your opps) or law enforcement just stick to materialistic make-believe stories. If you play stupid games you win stupid prizes e.g., making disrespectful songs about smoking an opp pack.

For instance, FBG Duck (Carlton Weekly) made that Drill Rap song "Dead Bitches" mocking his dead opps, id est:

• Jerome Howard a/k/a J-Money
• Jerome Anderson a/k/a Lil Boo
• Sheroid Liggins
• Steven McGee a/k/a Lil Steve
• James Johnson a/k/a T-Roy
• Odee Perry
• Marcus London Baldy
• Dontay Banks Jr. a/k/a D'Thang

However, look what happened next, Duck was shot in Gold Coast, Chicago.

The moral of the story is that business-minded rappers have always rapped about fiction (materialistic stuff) and their lyrics don't get cited. The slow ones are those who narrate their crimes in full detail without being asked even to the extent of posting incriminating evidence on social media.

In conclusion, I somehow have absolutely no remorse when these rappers sing about committing crimes, then cry when they’re arrested or when they are shot in broad daylight after dissing their opps. Like dude, when you are done ratting on yourself in a recording studio stop being a cry baby later on and face the music, no pun intended.

 

[Chidinma]

@Nolwazi Kwayedza exactly, dry snitching is providing cops with the information they never requested.

If a rapper is unsure they can always make it mandatory to have their homies proofread their lyrics.

Eventually, that will probably keep them from being indicted in either a conspiracy or a RICO case.

 

[prosper]

Is that what's happening to Young Thug and Gunna?

 

[Tafadzwa Twabam]

Is that what's happening to Young Thug and Gunna?

What do you mean?

 

[Tanonoka]

What do you mean?

Both Jeffery Williams and Sergio Kitchens are in hot water like teabags.

They recently got hit with a gang-related racketeering charge. It’s looking like it’s done for them to be honest.

Law enforcement is saying Young Slime Life (YSL) is a gang whilst them folks are saying it's just a record label.

Below are some of the lyrics that are being used against yours truly Jeffery Williams a/k/a Young Thug:

Young Thug - "Slime Shit" feat. Yak Gotti​
Hey, this that slime shit, hey, YSL shit, hey, killin’ 12 shit, hey, fuck jail shit, hey​
Cooking white brick​
I’m not new to this, hey, I’m so true to this, hey/ I done put whole slime on hunnid licks​
Fuck the judge, YSL, this that mob life​

Young Thug - "Anybody" feat. Nicki Minaj​
I never killed anybody but I got something to do with that body​
I told them to shoot a hundred rounds​
I get all type of cash / I’m a general​

 

[Chenai]

@Nolwazi Kwayedza yes, if you choose the streets it means you are very aware of the consequences of the streets.

@Tanonoka BTW Lil Wayne's bus got shot up by a member of Young Slime Life, so good luck to them proving they aren't a gang.

And also YSL tried to smoke YFN Lucci cause he clowned Young Thug for wearing a dress after Young Thug said he was the new Tupac.

 

[Comrade Chibage]

If you do a crime don’t be scared to do the time -- stop glamorizing street life. Certain rappers always want to be thugs and they cry wolf when they get caught. Stop vouching for these rappers. Young Thug did a lot of sh!t just to live this here lifestyle hahaha.

 

[Bla Jedza]

If using lyrics to indict somebody is lame so is snitching on yourself by describing the exact scenario in detail of an unsolved crime or a conspiracy to commit one that's already under investigation e.g. drug trafficking.

 

[Numero Uno]

Which member from YSL shot Lil Wayne's tour bus?

 

[Shamiso]

Which member from YSL shot Lil Wayne's tour bus?

It's allegedly Jimmy Winfrey a/k/a Peewee Roscoe.

 

[Munyaradzi Mafaro]

The thing is that some rap music artists are funded by drug dealers who set up a record label to launder money until they reach a mainstream audience, and because of this, they'll already be affiliated with some gang activity but it doesn't mean those particular rappers should proceed to name any names or certain events in their Hip Hop songs. If any rapper does that who is to blame for their own downfall except themselves?

On the other hand, some rappers fund their own careers from the money they obtain from the streets, therefore, the idea that cops shouldn't cite self-incriminating lyrics makes no damn sense.

Y'all remember Ronald Herron, aka Ra Diggs? He went down because some of his lyrics were used during his trial wherein Crystal Lewis, Joseph Garcia, Raphael Gonzalez, and Vincent Winfield also testified against him about the murder of Victor Zapata including the other two murders.

Now Ra Diggs has to serve 12 life terms plus an additional 105 years. He is basically done for at ADX Florence in Colorado where Larry Hoover is currently locked up too all because he ratted on himself on that song Eulogy.

Abdul Ibrahim West, aka AR-AB, is yet another example of what not to do if you decide to be a gangster.

 

[Numero Uno]

@Munyaradzi Mafaro what gang was Ra Diggs in?

 

[Munyaradzi Mafaro]

@Munyaradzi Mafaro what gang was Ra Diggs in?

Murderous Mad Dogs.

 

[Queen]

@Nolwazi Kwayedza @Tanonoka isn't part of the reason why Hip Hop recording artists don't make conscious songs (or conscious long-playing albums) due to the fact that many people nowadays have a short attention span and always want music to turn up to?

I am sure if more and more Hip Hop fans appreciated positivity there would be a few incidents of rappers self-snitching because they wouldn't have to constantly churn out record singles about gangbanging and whatnot.

 

[Scorpio]

@Queen the music industry and social media are to blame for people not having the attention span to digest music as art. Many feel like Rap music is solely entertainment yet it has the ability to be so much more than what it is.

This reminds me of one video I watched on YouTube when Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu was talking about Developing Positive Self-images in Black Children and how it all ties up with some of these rappers' troubled upbringing i.e. things such as neglect, abuse, or childhood trauma.

Even Dr. Umar Johnson once mentioned the main traits of thug energy are anger and pain which also supports some of the points Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu said a long-time ago in the 80s.

 

[Hovhorosi]

Thought-provoking rap music ain't what the Establishment wants hip-hop fans to regularly listen to or for it to be mainstream.

The Establishment knows for a fact thought-provoking rap music will inevitably become extremely political and lead to increased critical thinking for their liking. Thus the solution has always been to primarily promote male gangster artists and female rappers who do nothing but twerk whilst rapping about all kinds of debauchery things one could ever imagine e.g. eating booty, prostate milking/massage (i.e. fingers in the booty), sloppy toppy, etc.

 

[Joan]

Raqhid Jevon Render a/k/a Lil Keed who was a member of YSL has passed away, he was just 24 years of age. Anyway, does anyone believe there is a link between his death and the Young Stoner Life indictment?

 

[Borrowdale Barron]

Well, it's quite odd that 28 members of YSL got indicted, but he doesn't, and then he just mysteriously dies. Being a rap music artist today appears to be riskier than being a miner.