Criminals Convicted, in Part, by Their Own Rap Lyrics

Prosecutors in criminal cases have sometimes pointed to lyrics penned by the defendants in order to paint the aspiring rappers as violent and remorseless. Ronell Wilson was convicted of murder in a trial in which his lyrics were used as evidence.

Its a disgrace to the black community. They want respect, give me something to respect you for. Pacino and Brando are not on trial for murder, nor did they pen their characters.

These defendents are and did, and if art truly comes from the soul, then this is indeed a way to determine character. From the source: In February, an 18-year-old was convicted of a murder near Staunton, Virginia, after the prosecution brought up a rap he composed in jail that referred to the killing..

.. Last year, a jury in Alabama sentenced a man named Nathaniel Woods to death for his role in the murder of three Birmingham police officers after prosecutors showed the jury rap lyrics and drawings he kept in jail that glorified the slayings.

At worst, these may be smoking guns. At best, they are just incredibly stupid acts. If I were on trial for murder, I would be trying to distance myself from the act in question as much as humanly possible, not making art glorifying them.

The only difference between this art and OJ Simpson's recent book debacle is that OJ had the good sense to try to profit from the allegations AFTER being acquitted. The writings and poetry of school shooters is often used in trial against them, and I fail to see how this is any less insightful into the psyche of the accused. need to be shot - its vulgar and sets a bad example.

Nigga. Guess you never heard of TUPAC AMUR SHAKUR. He was THE man.

The Michael Jackson of rap . His lyrics looked bad on the top, but were really good at the core. you're a damn idiot for generalizing a whole genre.

It would be like if I went all rock artists talk about is drugs, running through women, and other stupid things...

it's a disgrace...

You're on this website typing like 100% of rap falls under that critera you mentioned. Idiotic. Maybe you just need to expand your horizons or shut up.

Either/or...

To respond to this though, a rapper named C-murder was once convicted of...

MURDER. They played his lyrics to basically convict him. Just recently it was overturned, but there is a possiblity that he may be tried again over something.

It's common that prosecutors use rap lyrics against rappers. It's stupid, and that defense attorney nailed it. Would someone bring up Stallone clips if he was charged w/murder?

And the heroin/where were the parents at? Middle America, *now* it's a tragedy/ Pretty good commentary on the scapegoating that took place after that event, along with a criticism of parents who blame everyone but themselves for their children's actions, and a note that this sort of thing goes unnoticed if it doesn't happen to rich kids. Maybe it's not art, but it's definitely not dumb.