In what's become a recurring theme in high profile cases against hip-hop artists, it appears likely that YNW Melly's violent lyrics could be used in his upcoming double murder trial.
The Florida rapper is currently being held without bond on charges of first-degree murder, where he's now being represented by Jason Roger Williams, the Lousiana attorney that got Boosie acquitted when he was facing lethal injection on Death Row. Sure enough, it's Williams who has recently stated that he believes the rapper's lyrics will ultimately be used against him, with likely an emphasis on his hit record "Murder on my Mind."
"It’s unclear, but [lyrics have] certainly been a large part of what has come from that office right now," Williams said in reference to the prosecution, "They have not used lyrics in court yet, but that seems to be the plan based on what we’ve heard so far."
Williams went on to say that he saw similar methods used during Boosie's case, noting that "when you look at the police behavior, when you look at the allegations that somehow rap lyrics are potential evidence or suggestive culpability or real life actions—those similarities are present in this case as well, and they were present in Boosie’s case."
Later on, he spoke to the dangerous precedent that's set by such a practice, adding that "the thing that some law enforcement folks just haven’t realized yet is that rap lyrics are just lyrics, just like rock song lyrics are just lyrics, just like Al Pacino’s in his script in Scarface are just words on a page! However, when the person who is rapping is young and African-American, they somehow want to make a leap that these things are not just creative."
With that said, it should be noted that following his arrest back in February, streams for YNW Melly's latest album skyrocketed which resulted in a platinum plaque for the aforementioned "Murder on my Mind."
Source: XXLMag
