Writer: Natasha Rizal
Editor: Sam Teisch
Spring 2024
A form of creative expression or a ticket to life in prison? The latter is the outcome of some rappers’ depictions of criminal activity in their songs. Take the case of the 23-year-old rapper and convicted murderer, Taymor McIntyre (known to many as Tay-K), whose lyrics in his hit song ‘The Race’ landed him 55 years in prison.
The Texas native was only 16 when he and six others committed aggravated robbery, leaving homeowner Ethan Walker dead. Although McIntyre was a part of the robbery, he had not committed the murder and thus was placed on house arrest. A few months later, McIntyre went on the run, breaking the agreements of his house arrest. While being a fugitive, he dropped ‘The Race,’ in which he alluded to running from the law. McIntyre went on to murder Mark Anthony Saldivar and assaulted a 65-year-old man in a park. Finally, US Marshals arrested McIntyre in New Jersey, and he has been serving prison time since.
McIntyre grew up surrounded by violence. He was thrown into a life of crime, labeled with stereotypes, and faced a lack of opportunities. The genre of rap was built on the expression of the struggles that these young Black men go through every day. The crimes depicted in their lyrics reflect the situations that society has placed them in—denying them education, resources, opportunities, mental health treatment, etc. The flashiness in their lyrics—flaunting money, cars, girls—reflects society’s lack of social mobility for Black men and how only through limited means, such as music or sports, have they been able to enjoy the same luxuries that White men do every day. For many young Black men, rap is an escape from reality, and the law using it against them only further silences them from sharing their struggles.
Some believe that lyrics such as, “I woke up too moody, who gon’ die today” and “Get the pack in, you get robbed for a fraction” illustrate the young man’s capacity to commit similarly violent crimes. These specific lyrics were used as evidence against McIntyre, along with his 2017 EP cover which depicts the rapper holding a gun. With the combination of other evidence, it seems as though McIntyre’s incarceration is warranted. However, should lyrics be taken into account in such cases, or should they be excluded as works of fictitious art?
The problem with using lyrics as evidence is the standard to which it is held. Some people are in support of this type of evidence. Take the case of Jeffrey Lamar Williams, a.k.a Young Thug, one of the most influential rappers of all time. Williams is currently on trial for a high-profile racketeering (or RICO) case. The prosecutor on this case is Fani Willis, who states that “…if you decide to admit your crimes over a beat, I’m going to use it.” She and many others argue that once a song is released to the public, it is fair game for any person or entity to scrutinize, including the law. Others, however, argue that song lyrics are protected by the First Amendment. For them to be used in law, they must be proven as “literal, rather than figurative or fictional,” as stated by New York Senate Bill S1738. This requires that further evidence is needed to place guilt on the defendants. In New Jersey, the state’s Supreme Court ruled that they found little value (or truth) in lyrics used in a case against rapper Vonte Skinner. They referenced non-rappers and their works of art, such as Bob Marley’s song ‘I Shot the Sherriff’ and Edgar Allan Poe’s depiction of burying a man in his story ‘The Tell-Tale Heart.’ Neither Marley’s nor Poe’s art was taken as proof of a crime. This suggests a bias towards young Black men, as the genre of rap has been targeted at much greater rates than others.
Within law, this debate will likely continue for years to come. In society, as rap has become one of the top music genres, people have become less critical of the genre. The support for the #ProtectBlackArt movement is growing, and personally, as a loyal rap fan, I hope that the field of law will follow suit.
References
Coscarelli, J. (2019, July 19). Tay-K, rapper who went viral with “the race,” is found guilty of
murder. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/19/arts/music/tay-k-guilty.html
Matthew Strauss, S. S. (2019, July 19). Tay-K found guilty of murder: Report. Pitchfork.
Miller, J. (2023, February 15). Using Rap Lyrics as Evidence in Court. New Jersey State Bar
NY State Senate Bill 2023-S1738. NYSenate.gov. (n.d.).
Tay-K – The Race. Genius. (n.d.). https://genius.com/Tay-k-the-race-lyrics
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