Why the trial against Young Thug has gone viral

In Atlanta, Georgia, the trial against Young Thug has begun. The American rapper was arrested in May 2022 on charges of contributing to the establishment of the local criminal gang Young Slime Life. The artist is considered one of the most famous rappers of his generation, a prominent figure in the Atlanta hip-hop scene, which has witnessed the rise and spread of trap over the last decade. In 2019, Thug won a Grammy for the song This Is America, co-written with Childish Gambino, and throughout his career, he has collaborated with notable artists such as Travis Scott and Drake. His latest album, Business is Business, reached the top position on the Billboard Hot 100 just days after its release, a remarkable achievement, especially considering Thug had released the album from prison. The rapper has been in pretrial detention for over a year, and all requests for bail have been denied. Typically, bail is not granted when the defendant's freedom poses a concrete risk to the community, making his trial even more controversial.

What is Young Thug's accusation

The rapper was arrested along with twenty others associated with his label, YSL (Young Stoner Life), and they are all accused, to varying degrees, of being part of a highly active criminal gang in Atlanta. In particular, the prosecutor alleges that since 2012, the group members have committed assaults, robberies, and the killing of at least one person leading a rival gang. Young Thug is not directly implicated in this murder, but he is accused of renting the car used to commit it. Among the reported offenses within the group are also illegal possession of weapons and drug trafficking. The prosecution further claims that the lyrics of some songs by Young Thug serve as evidence of the gang's existence. This approach has been heavily criticized by observers. Explicit storytelling of crime is a typical characteristic of rap, dating back to the genre's inception. Consequently, interpreting these verses literally would be misleading in itself. The prosecution's stance has been labeled discriminatory because it violates the rapper's freedom of expression; in the past, songs from other genres that similarly narrate murders have never been used as evidence in a trial. According to the prosecutor, the rapper's label name is allegedly a reference to the criminal group – the YSL acronym supposedly stands for Young Slim Life.

Can rap lyrics affect trials?

Especially in the criminal case against Young Thug, the use of rap lyrics in legal proceedings has been a highly contested issue in the United States, leading in some cases to the enactment of measures to protect artists. In September of last year, the governor of California signed a law limiting the use of such lyrics in criminal proceedings; the following month, also in California, a judge overturned the murder convictions of two individuals accused based on rap verses they had written several years prior. This year, the governor of Louisiana signed into law the Restoring Artistic Protection Act, prohibiting the artistic expression of a defendant from being used as evidence in a trial. Recently, ABC News Studios announced the release of the documentary Rap Trap: Hip-Hop on Trial, on the Hulu platform in February, focusing on Young Thug's case and similar ones, exploring the role and influence of rap within courtrooms.