Jerrika Karlae

The Atlanta case against Young Thug (Jeffery Williams) and Gunna (Sergio Kitchens) stunned the hip hop world and reignited a national conversation around the use of song lyrics as evidence in criminal cases. For some, the lyrics are evidence of wrongdoing. But for others, this case spotlights a disturbing trend of criminalizing Black art that goes back decades. Artists, music executives and those close to the accused trace hip hop’s evolution, historical mischaracterizations of the genre and other examples of when lyrics have been introduced in the courtroom, including the story of McKinley Phipps Jr. in New Orleans.