Why rap artists are asking Congress for help

Rap and hip-hop artists are asking Congress to pass legislation that would prevent lyrics from being used against artist defendants in criminal cases, which advocates say is a clear hit on the First Amendment. 

Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr., the head of the Grammys, joined with Democratic Reps. Hank Johnson (Ga.) and Jamaal Bowman (N.Y.) on Capitol Hill on Thursday to warn of the dangers to free speech if lyrics can be used as evidence against a defendant who’s a rapper.

“If we were to just decide, ‘Well, yeah, it’s the First Amendment, but we’re going to just take away a little bit of your freedoms here because we want to be able to use what you say against you in a court, even though you’re just storytelling,’ well, that’s one little small nibble into the freedoms of the First Amendment,” Mason told The Hill in an interview.

“Then there could be another one, and then there could be another one. And that could ripple across so many different industries … so it feels like a dangerous, slippery slope,” Mason said.

Rapper Rico Love, musical artist DIXSON and singer-songwriter Victoria Monét joined advocates at the Capitol as Johnson and Bowman announced the reintroduction of the Restoring Artistic Protection (RAP) Act.

The bill would make evidence of a defendant’s creative or artistic expression inadmissible as evidence against them in a criminal case, with limited exceptions in the event that prosecutors have proven the artwork was literal — rather than figurative.

Advocates cite research from the 2019 book “Rap on Trial,” written by Erik Nielson and Andrea L. Dennis, which found prosecutors had used lyrics as criminal evidence in court against an artist defendant in more than 500 documented cases since the 2000s.

“The idea that something you said or acted or enacted or wrote could be used against you in a court of law, as we’re operating under the First Amendment, feels unfair. And it feels as if it would serve as a filter to the creative process,” Mason said. 

Johnson told reporters on Thursday the proposed legislation is “common sense” and “long overdue.” He and Bowman first introduced the RAP Act last year. 

“For too long, artists have been unfairly targeted by prosecutors who use their lyrics as evidence of guilt, even though there’s no evidence that the lyrics are anything more than just simply creative expression,” Johnson said.

Although the advocates focused on rap artists, they stressed the protections would extend to other genres of music and other mediums of expression. 

“It’s not just about rap and hip-hop,” Bowman said. “The minute we start saying, ‘You can’t use those rap lyrics,’ we’re gonna start saying, ‘You can’t use those country lyrics. You can’t use those rock lyrics.’ God forbid the wrong person gets into the White House and starts targeting heavy metal or another genre of music,” Bowman said. 

At the same time, Black art and hip-hop need focused protection “because we continue to have the disproportionate targeting of Black art,” Bowman said. 

Mason, the first Black man to lead the Recording Academy, also wants to up the profile of the Academy’s advocacy work. He told The Hill he’s “thankful” for the global draw of his organization’s annual awards show but hopes a broader audience sees the organization’s involvement on Capitol Hill and elsewhere.

“Anytime we get to the point where artists are feeling scared about what to write, or what to act, or how to sing, or what to rap, that feels urgent. And anytime people get in the business of trying to regulate or dictate how creators create, it’s important,” Mason said. 

The Recording Academy advocates also talked on Capitol Hill about artificial intelligence, he said, and stressed that free speech protections are especially important “in a time of new technology, new consumption habits, new creativity.”

They also discussed live event ticketing amidst controversy and congressional scrutiny over Ticketmaster. Spoken-word poet J. Ivy, singer-songwriter JP Saxe and singer Gayle were also spotted in Washington for Advocacy Day.

Several stars descended on Washington for the annual “Grammys on The Hill” awards dinner on Wednesday, which was followed by its Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill and the reintroduction of the RAP Act on Thursday. 

This year’s awards dinner honored Grammy-winning artist Pharrell Williams — as well as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) “for their stalwart support of music creators,” the Academy said.