Jeffrey I feel like I used
to hate that name so much,
but now I'm understanding the name.
It's protect black art.
Protect our rights,
protect our freedom of speech.
Protect our creative expression.
We need to protect freedom of speech,
especially when it comes to art.
My art is not a reflection of my character.
So who's really on trial? This is
not about it's not about myself,
it's not about Doug. This
is about freedom of speech.
My lifestyle.
I came from pain and
pinch came out this struggling.
My name is Kenna Laos.
It's no secret that people of
color are under attack every day.
The petition really started to
spread like wildfire on social media.
As soon as it was posted,
so many prominent artists started to speak
on behalf of it and why it's needed.
And then it garnered more
than 60,000 signatures.
And what it really is trying to do
is it's trying to make a case for
rap lyrics that it does not by any
circumstances belong in the courtroom.
Good morning,
Mr Jeffrey Williams. Be aware
that on this calendar you are here
because you have been indicted.
Yeah, the indictment
says the lyrics show involvement in some of
the crimes that those people are accused of.
But could there be First Amendment issues,
young folk songs used as evidence with lyrics
such as I never killed anybody,
but I got something to do with that body.
But I got something to do with that body.
If this is how the system treats them,
and imagine how it treats other
black Americans Day in and day out
who aren't famous or well known.
When we see the protect black art movement,
it's in response to rap lyrics
on trial time and time again.
And what it's really doing is
igniting decades long conversation
that we've been having we the jury
and above until action finally,
defendant Calvin Brodis not guilty of
the crime of murder in the first degree.
Now the most notorious case involving
lyrics in courtrooms is Snoop Dogg in 1996,
where prosecutors ended up quoting
lyrics in his legal case and
more recently NBA Young Boy's.
Trial, where his music was also brought
up in the courtroom by prosecutors,
but the judge ended up excluding
it as evidence.
All those cases are just to name a few.
The debate lies between artistic
expression and real life experiences,
and what it really comes down
to is who is interpreting.
And for what reason?
Gangster rap has become incredibly
popular and profitable by selling
lyrics about black on black violence.
So we're not against what,
we're not against rappers,
but we are against those thugs.
Art has to be dangerous for it
to be interesting, and art has
always been a sense of dance.
It has some type of danger in it.
That's what music is. We are able
to tell a story with our lyrics.
Whether it's their story or not,
they're telling a story.
So if you lose that artist storyteller,
you're going to lose the art of music.
Right to your face.
Sometimes rappers, they exaggerate.
Sometimes they say things that
may not necessarily be true.
Lot of, if not most of the
artists come from the projects,
they come from broken homes.
So if you if that's the
environment that you come from,
it's what you're going to talk about.
I have some legal advice.
Don't confess to crimes
on rap lyrics
if you do not want them
used. It should never be used in
courtroom unless the prosecution
would show that that lyric is a
admission or confession black art.
It seems like that's the only form of
art that's that's ridiculed in that
way of what prosecutors are using.
A lot of times people can't
separate reality from fiction.
However, it's very easily done
when we're talking about films.
Very easily done when we're
talking about video games.
The people who created Grand Theft Auto,
they're not being brought up on charges.
It's the rap music that creates
this fear and it's not happening
in other genre of music,
Johnny Cash said. I shut up,
man and Reno just to watch him die.
You know I shot the sheriff.
You don't think the first time,
but it's rap music.
And because it's rap music,
and it was born and bred
out of someplace that a lot
of people don't understand,
we're constantly attacked.
This is a nationwide conversation,
but at the state level with California,
with New York here in Georgia,
with the legislation that's
also proposed by Hank Johnson,
there is this movement.
To protect lyrics from
being used in courtrooms.
And I feel like this is really the
beginning. We're going to see it
play out in other states as well.
I believe in the First Amendment.
It's one of our most precious rights,
however. The First Amendment
does not protect people from
prosecutors using it as evidence.
People are pulling lyrics from people's
Instagram and their demo tapes and Tik T.O.K,
and they're using this as evidence.
We can't do that. It creates a horrible,
horrible precedent. What's next?
They know other things.
I'm using those lyrics.
I'm gonna continue to do that.
People can continue to be angry
about it. There's a lot on the line,
no matter which side of the
spectrum you agree with.
It has become so controversial
because the same lyrics that have
made some of these artists famous,
from a law enforcement standpoint,
they're incriminating.
We have to ask ourselves,
why is this the only art
form that is spoken of,
being brought into court?
I think it's an attack on
culture more than anything.
It's not an attack on hip-hop,
it's an attack on crime.
You can't.
Say I'm an artist,
but still have your feet
in the street doing crying.
This may be what a shared moment in
hip hop where artists may be more
careful about what they put out,
and also the labels as well.
If black art doesn't get protected,
what will happen to the industry?
It's going to crumble, period.
Alright.