Rap Lyrics as Evidence

Abstract

Recent scholarship has shed light on the troubling use of rap lyrics in criminal trials. Prosecutors have interpreted defendants' rap lyrics as accurate descriptions of past behavior or in some cases as real threats of violence. There are at least two problems with this practice: One concerns the interpretation of art in a legalistic context and the second involves the targeting of rap over other genres and the role of racism therein. The goal of the present work is translational, to demonstrate the relevance of music scholarship on this topic to criminologists and legal experts. We highlight the usage of lyric formulas, stock lyrical topics understood by musicians and their audiences, many of which make sense only in the context of a given genre. The popularity of particular lyric formulas at particular times appears connected to contemporaneous social conditions. In African American music, these formulas have a long history, from blues, through rock and roll, to contemporary rap music. The work illustrates this through textual analyses of lyrics identifying common formulas and connecting them to relevant social factors, in order to demonstrate that fictionalized accounts of violence form the stock-in-trade of rap and should not be interpreted literally.

Gender Representations in Rap Music: Gender Stereotypes, Hegemonic Masculinity and Sexism

“…İçerik analizi, kültürel formların analizinde en uygun araştırma tekniği olarak kabul edilmektedir (Babbie, 1998). Daha önce rap şarkılarında kadın rap müzisyenlerinin cinsel özgürlüğü (Rose, 1994), erkek rap müzisyenlerinin şiddet içeren erkekliği inşası (Kubrin, 2005), rap müzisyenlerinin beden kullanımları (Randolph, 2006), kadın düşmanlığı (Weitzer ve Kubrin, 2009), rap şarkılarının suç ile bağlantısı (Stoia, Adams ve Drakulich, 2017) gibi konular da içerik analiziyle ele alınmıştır.…”

Rap music, race, and perceptions of crime

“…One way scholars challenge concerns about the genre is by highlighting how rap music is rooted in a broader entertainment media culture that glamorizes violent behavior (Negus, 2012;Quinn, 2013;Richardson & Scott, 2002;Serrianne, 2015;Watts, 2012). Proponents of this perspective point to the violent and misogynistic imagery prevalent across television and movies, musical genres, and literary classics as evidence of a general American culture of violence (Armstrong, 1993;Grier, 2001;Lowell et al, 2014;Richardson & Scott, 2002;Stoia et al, 2017). Contemporary rap music is, therefore, merely another outgrowth of prevailing entertainment norms, and scholars who study rap music point to changes in the music industry to suggest that this, in fact, may be the case (Fitts, 2008;Herd, 2008;Herd, 2009;Mendez, 2019;Myer & Kleck, 2007: Negus, 2012Serrianne, 2015).…”

“…Other scholars point out that, although American entertainment media generally glamorizes flashiness, sex, and violence, rappers face unique pressures to construct a hyper-aggressive, hyper-masculine persona (Perry, 2004;Quinn, 2013;Rose, 2008;Weitzer & Kubrin, 2009). More specifically, rappers who embody what Quinn (2013) describes as "black ghetto realness" (p. 32) are typically viewed by record labels as more marketable and often receive more financially lucrative contracts (Charnas, 2011;Harkness, 2014a;Krims, 2000;Rose, 2008;Serrianne, 2015;Stoia et al, 2017). This may explain the proliferation of rap videos on YouTube and other social media platforms that depict gang-related activity and other criminal exploits.…”

“…As some have suggested, existing negative stereotypes about rap music may, in fact, act as a proxy for anti-Black biases (Butler, 2004;Dunbar & Kubrin, 2018;Kubrin & Nielson, 2014;Stoia et al, 2017). To address this concern, scholars have begun examining how rap lyrics activate stereotypes related to race more broadly, that is, beyond stereotypes of rap music.…”

“…Both of these arguments, which have been echoed by numerous other scholars, highlight how opposition to cultural affectations and traditions is used to maintain a racial hierarchy. In fact, criticism of music, hairstyles, art, and language, to just name a few, has been extensively discussed to illustrate the relationship between cultural production and racial inequality (e.g., Bonilla-Silva & Dietrich, 2011;Lopez, 2014;Macon, 2014;Ramirez, 2005;Stoia et al, 2017). Thus, extensive research has theorized about broader conceptualizations of race/ethnicity and social control, yet this research rarely empirically examines how culture, specifically, is linked to race in ways that result in increased assessments of culpability and dangerousness.…”