Young Thug has been in jail since May 2022. Denied bond released multiple times, the Grammy-winning rapper has endured huge challenges while in jail - among those are the criticism of his body of work and the moral degradation of being denied release while waiting for his trial.
In the past year, the conversation on prosecutors using song lyrics to indict and prosecute artists has reached the halls of Congress with the help of various hip-hop artists.
Now, Young Thug's RICO trial has finally started after an extensive jury search and other debacles.
Young Thug Lyrics Cherry-Picked By Prosecutors?
According to Brian Steel, Young Thug's lawyer, the rapper's lyrics were derived from the struggle he had experienced when he was still young. (via Billboard)
Young Thug, formally known as Jeffery Williams, has been accused of running a covert Atlanta gang called "Young Slime Life," masked by his record label/music collective called "Young Stoner Life." A grand jury indictment was served in May 2022 accusing the rapper of committing murders, drug dealing, and carjackings, among other felonies. Notably, the biggest one of them is conspiring to violate the RICO Act in Atlanta.
Since then, the district attorney has cracked down on using Thugger's song lyrics to show the pattern of evidence that the crimes committed were mirrored in the songs he released.
"Yes, he speaks about 'killing 12' and people being shot and drugs and drive-by shootings," Steel argued. "This is the environment he grew up in. These are the people he knew, these are the stories he knew. These are the words he rhymed."
Steel even invoked Thug's First Amendment, saying that this is "art.. This is freedom of speech."
READ MORE: Atlanta DA Defends Using Young Thug Lyrics As Evidence In Court Proceedings
District Attorney Defends Use of Song Lyrics On Trial
In a filing obtained by Billboard, the Fulton County District Attorney defended their use of lyrics in prosecuting Young Thug. They say that the lyrics show "admission" that he is clearly part of the alleged Young Slime Life gang.
"Gang lyric evidence pertaining to the predicate offenses, YSL, its rivals, expectations, and behaviors are all highly pertinent to the defendants' states of mind and intent in this case," the DA said in a statement "The defendants associated with YSL for criminal purposes."
Fulton County DA Fani Willis explained in an interview in 2022 the idea of using Young Thug's lyrics in court.
"I think if you decide to admit your crimes over a beat, I'm going to use it. I'm not targeting anyone. You do not get to commit crimes in my county, and then get to decide to brag on it, which you do that for a form of intimidation and to further the gain and to not be held responsible," Willis announced. "I have some legal advice: Don't confess to crimes on rap lyrics if you don't want them used, or at least get out of my county,"
READ ALSO: Young Thug's RICO Case Explained: How Rapper's Music Will Play Into Trial
