California on Friday enacted a new law limiting prosecutors from using rap lyrics as evidence against criminal defendants. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a series of bills, including AB 2799, which requires ...

Hip-hop, like any art form, is a means of creative expression. And while rap music is often semi-autobiographical, when Kanye West recorded in 2018, “I thought about killing you / Premeditated murder, ...

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the Decriminalizing Artistic Expression Act into law on Friday. The bill will limit the use of lyrics as evidence in legal proceedings. Advocates of the bill say using lyrics ...

Atlanta rapper Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Lamar Williams, is seen on a monitor as he waits for a virtual appearance before a Fulton County magistrate judge on May 10, 2022. (Arvin ...

The racial bias of courts using rap lyrics to criminalize artists of color. California is the first state to prevent courts from criminalizing Black and Brown artistic expression, after passing ...

In a big win for creative expression, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed The Decriminalizing Artistic Expression Act, which restricts the use of rap lyrics as evidence in court in California. “For too long, ...

Since its early days, rap lyrics have been used by prosecutors to build narratives with criminal trials. With the genre's popularity booming, this trend continues to affect aspiring artists and A-list ...

Ms. Lee is a contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine and a 2021-22 Knight-Wallace reporting fellow. March 30, 2022 Tommy Munsdwell Canady was in middle school when he wrote his first rap ...