Lyrics in Court

Rap and the judicial system go together like peanut butter and jelly, or like oil and water depending on your perspective. It seems like every week you hear about a rapper being arrested or making a court appearance. But every so often there is a rare instance where an artist’s lyrics are brought to the court’s attention and are sometimes the difference between freedom or incarceration.
Lyrics and the courthouse have intertwined once again in Los Angeles at the trial of Aubrey Berry, who is on trial for the murder of up and coming rapper, Dolla, whose real name is Roderick Burton. What started as a dispute between the two men in an Atlanta nightclub resumed over two thousand miles away at the Beverly Center parking lot in Los Angeles. Berry testified Dolla and some friends confronted him at the valet counter and said, “You in my hood, you wanna die, huh?” Berry, who suffered a beating from Dolla and his friends just 11 day previously in Atlanta and was well aware of Dolla’s affiliation with the Mansfield Gangster Crips, claimed he feared for his life. Berry said Dolla reached for his back, and at that moment Berry pulled his own 9-millimeter pistol and fired a total of eight rounds. Dolla was hit four times and died. A weapon was never found on Dolla. Cold blooded murder or self defense? That is not for me to decide, nor what this article is about.

What is interesting is that Dolla’s lyrics helped his killer go free. Berry’s attorney played the jury one of Dolla’s songs, “Is You Holdin”, where Dolla claims to have a pistol on him at all times. According to his attorney those lines played in Berry’s head and justified him pulling his gun. The jury agreed and Aubrey Berry was acquitted of all crimes.
I am a firm believer rap lyrics should not be admissible in court for the simple fact that rap is entertainment and a rapper’s lyrics in court are about as valid as hearsay. It is a staple of hip hop culture just like graffiti or break dancing, to embellish and grossly exaggerate one’s accomplishments and skill whether it be with a microphone, women, or with a gun. Are we to believe that Brotha Lynch Hung actually eats baby brains and intestines?

Listen to any Geto Boy album start to finish and if you took the words at face value, there could be a decent argument on who killed more people and slept with the most women, Geto Boys or Ghengis Khan.

Imagine if CEO/entrepreneur/rapper, Jay-Z, went on trial for manslaughter. Would the prosecution play songs from Reasonable Doubt and say the defendant has a rich history of drug trafficking, kidnapping, and murder?

It is a slippery and downright dangerous path when a rapper’s lyrics are admissible in court for the simple fact that so much of it is untrue. Some of the horrific stories heard in rap songs are true. The rapper has seen, heard, or even taken part it in it. But to allow whole songs or albums in the courtroom full of jurors, most of whom would not consider themselves fans of the genre, is irresponsible and could be easily misinterpreted. Simply put, you have to be one asinine individual to rap about actual crimes you committed. As Jeru the Damaja said, “I never knew hustlas confessed on stereo.”