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New York: American rapper Young Thug was due to stand trial on Monday on charges that his record label was a front for a criminal gang.
The influential hip-hop star, born Jeffrey Williams, was one of more than 20 people indicted last spring by a Georgia grand jury, and those named have been identified as Young Slime Life, or YSL. He said he belonged to a branch of the Bloods Street Gang.
The indictment rocked the Atlanta rap world. Atlanta has long been associated with hip-hop. Young Thug is considered one of the industry’s most influential figures, shaping the modern rap sound. rice field.
Georgia prosecutors have attacked all the defendants for conspiring to violate the state’s criminal extortion law, modeled after the federal RICO law.
In its early days, the law was used to track down mobs, but more recently it was used to arrest R&B singer R. Kelly, who was dishonored for sex crimes.
The individual crimes supporting YSL’s conspiracy charges include murder, assault, carjacking, drug dealing, and theft.
Young Thug, who founded hip-hop and trap label YSL Records in 2016, has also been charged with participating in criminal street gang activity.
Defense attorneys argue that YSL (also known as Young Stoner Life Records) is nothing more than a label and a vague association of artists.
Controversially, prosecutors have blocked rap lyrics by musicians such as Young Thug and Gunna.
Fani Willis, district attorney for Fulton County, which includes Atlanta, said, “If you decide to admit your crime as soon as possible, I’m going to use it.”
– “Wrap on Trial” –
This isn’t the first time hip-hop lyrics have been brought up in court, a practice that has been controversial many times over the past few decades.
Eric Neilson, a professor at the University of Richmond and an expert on rap music as evidence in criminal trials, is likely to testify as an expert witness for the defense.
In his 2019 book, Rap on Trial: Race, Lyrics, and Guilt in America, with Andrea L. Dennis, the court routinely takes lyrics out of context to discriminate between professional rappers and aspiring artists. It claims to have criminalized and imprisoned both. mainly black and brown.
Of the 28 people originally named in YSL’s indictment, 14 are expected to face trial, which could last six to nine months.
Six of the original defendants have been tried separately, and eight, including Gunna and Young Thug’s brother Quantavius ​​Grier, have entered into plea deals.
Court documents show the state could call well over 300 witnesses, including prominent rap figures like Lil Wayne.AFPMore
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