An inordinate amount of rap songs reference murdering someone. I always wondered why, if Tupac wasn’t totally full of shit, would he would rap about killing people so often, sometimes going as far as to mention several details which, if true, would have been useful to homicide investigators.
If you actually killed people, wouldn’t your rap lyrics where you talk about killing people at the very least be admissible as evidence if a case was pinned on you? Even if the case was unrelated, wouldn’t this say something to jurors about your character or personality?
The prosecution introduces as evidence Exhibit 3A:
“Any of you niggas from New York that want to bring it, bring it
But we ain’t singing, we bringing drama
Fuck you and your motherfucking mama
We’re gonna kill all you motherfuckers”
That’s not even an innuendo. Tupac is just saying he’s going to kill a bunch of people. This is different from a movie director who makes violent films, or even more theatrical forms of music. Everyone knows Slipknot is an act. Tupac used his real name.
This is where things get murky. Is this pure entertainment or should we believe these guys? Central to a rapper’s appeal is how “real” they are, meaning audiences are more apt to respect those who are actually doing what they talk about. Livin’ it!
This is the paradox I’ve never heard addressed. Would you rather some rapper actually be out in the streets killing people for the validity of your entertainment, or admit it’s a sham? Which is lamer? It would probably be better for society if these guys were corny dudes masquerading as serial murderers, but if they’re just pretending, doesn’t that make the music exceptionally corny?
Maybe we should work backwards. Instead of these rappers learning how to kill people, just find the most prestigious murderers and teach them how to rap. This would eliminate any perceived lack of authenticity in the music.
A lot of rappers get involved in various shootings, but if the numbers of people they’d killed jibed with the content of their lyrics, many of them would put Jeffrey Dahmer to shame.
Rapper C Murder is in prison for life for murder. That’s hilarious. I wonder if his rap name had been C Innocence he would have gotten off.
2 Chainz is perhaps the most audacious rapper to date as far as offering specific information of his criminal activity in his lyrics. This guy is so legit he might actually be making a public confession to a crime through his crappy music.
A woman named Christine Chisholm is suing him for defamation, and in response Chainz has released a song called Watch Out, which appears to be an open threat of violence towards her. So real, yet so uncool.
The situation is this: A few years ago Chisholm finagled her way backstage at a 2 Chainz concert, apparently as a groupie. Chainz and his posse apparently didn’t recognize her, so someone recorded Chainz humiliating her by repeatedly calling her a Thot and forcing her to lie about why she was backstage and then making her leave in shame. The video received over ten million hits on Youtube, and Chisholm subsequently sued Chainz for $5 million for defamation, claiming it cost her her hairdressing job.
Chisholm has claimed that Chainz, angry about the lawsuit, has been visiting her hometown attempting to locate her, and that an unmarked car attempted to run her over while she was jogging. Watch Out seems to back up her case:
“Shorty said she want five million, cause I told her to leave and call her a thot… We waving that thing at your body, we waving that thing at your eye.”
He doesn’t say what he’s waving at her, it could be a gun, or it could be a banana wrapped in tinfoil, who knows. I would posit that the title of the song coupled with the implicating lyrics would constitute a threat. Especially when factoring in Chisolm’s claims of someone trying to run her over. I don’t see why this song couldn’t be used as evidence in prosecuting Chainz for making criminal threats.
Again, the paradox. For the sake of art, would you rather Chainz be serious about wanting to kill a chick who is suing him, or knock him down a few pegs as a rapper, admit he’s posturing, and spare the woman her life. Is there really a good option? This guy’s career is based on people taking him seriously. Where does that leave us as consumers? Are we, in some perverse way, now rooting for him to kill her so that he’s not a poser? Probably not, but how does that jibe with the preference of rappers who are “real?” Are we advocating rappers go out and commit the crimes they brag about? If not, can we admit the entire tough guy rap culture is idiotic?
There are several cases of rappers lyrics being used as evidence in a crime. Antwain Steward, or Twain Gotti, was charged with murder as a sixteen year old when prosecutors reopened his case, using one of his songs to convince jurors he was guilty. The lyrics are pretty generic:
“Everybody saw when I fuckin’ choked him. But nobody saw when I fucking’ smoked him, roped him, sharpened up the shank then I poked him, 357 Smith and Wesson big scoped him, roped him.”
Yawn. That’s run of the mill filler. Steward was found not guilty of murder, although he is serving prison time for a separate weapons charge. It’s unclear how much the song played into the conviction, but it should be noted he’s talking about the specific type of gun used in the killings he was charged with.
The First Amendment basically protects any speech that isn’t advocating for immediate violence or legitimately threatening someone. Is Chainz in violation?
The ACLU has argued that rap lyrics are artistic in nature and that introducing them into cases prejudices juries. Yet to my knowledge, there hasn’t been a case where someone like Chainz was brazen enough to get into a lot of identifying details.
The whole thing could be settled like this: Anytime some rapper threatens to kill anyone via his lyrics, he should be sat down and asked one question:
- Are you pretending or are you serious?
If Chainz is serious, he should be charged. If he’s pretending, it should be noted he’s a fucking dork.
Again, I don’t know what’s better for the sake of art or for the sake of society, but the answer isn’t going to yield any positives either way. Maybe this should lead you to question why you’re dancing to this horse shit in the first place.