The list of rappers backing Young Slime Life grows longer every day, and now MD artist Cordae is stepping up.
Cordae on team YSL
Atlanta A-listers Gunna and Young Thug are in custody and awaiting their day in court. Unfortunately, they’ll have to wait until 2023 for that day. ‘From a Birds Eye View’ rapper Cordae spoke up this Wednesday (Jun 1) in defense of YSL as a collective.
In addition to this, Cordae also disapproves of the practice of rap lyrics being used as evidence in a court of law.
This upcoming trial may prove problematic for both Young Thug and Gunna, who don’t shy away from speaking about criminal activity in their songs. However, this is where artistic expression and freedom of speech come into play.
This method of using lyrics is becoming more and more commonplace, the most noteworthy examples being Tay K’s 2019 trial and Snoop Dogg’s 1993 murder trial. Luckily for Snoop, he was able to narrowly avoid a guilty verdict. However, Tay K wasn’t as fortunate with a 55+ year sentence. It’s believed the contents of his biggest song ‘The Race’ played a big role in how hefty Tay’s sentence came out to be in comparison to his accomplices.
Meek Mill follows up
Cordae isn’t the only artist going up for YSL. Meek Mill also hopped on Twitter Wednesday claiming everyone deserves a bail preceding their trial.
“Free thug … free gunna …” He posted that morning. “free ysl … everybody deserves a bail,”
Meek has stood up for rappers in the “lyrics as evidence” debate for quite some time. Back in January, he was one of many artists to add a signature to The Rap Music on Trial bill. This New York legislature is being led by State Senators Brad Hoylman and Jamaal Bailey. It was firstly designed to prevent rap lyrics from being utilized as hard evidence in criminal trials. Aside from Meek, several high-profile artists backed the bill. Jay Z, Big Sean, Killer Mike, Fat Joe, and Vic Mensa also provided their signatures in solidarity. Clearly, this is an issue weighing heavily on the music industry as a whole.
“Across the country, we are seeing a disturbing trend of prosecutors introducing an artists product as evidence against them in a criminal trial” Hoylman told FOX 5 NY. “Prosecutors are telling the judge and the jury, ‘You should take this music, the words to the music, literally.'”
On Jun 2, Young Thug’s lawyers will appear in court and make one last argument for bail. He’s being accused of violating the Racketeer Influenced & Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act, in addition to several other serious crimes including robbery, murder, and drug possession.
Also, Follow FMHipHop on Instagram and Facebook
Dreema Carrington|IG: @dr3amgirl79|Twitter: @notdreema
