Travis Scott slams the use of rap lyrics in death sentence
Travis Scott has condemned the use of rap lyrics in a death penalty sentencing.
James Broadnax was convicted in 2009 of killing two men during a robbery, with prosecutors then introducing his lyrics in deciding whether he should be put to death.
He’s set to be executed next month, with his lawyers asking the Supreme Court to stop and review his case.
In support, Scott has filed a brief arguing that the use of rap lyrics at trial was “unconstitutional.”
His brief reads, “The prosecutors argued Mr Broadnax was likely to be dangerous in the future simply because he engaged in ‘gangster rap.’ Such an argument functionally operates as a categorical and straightforwardly unconstitutional content-based penalty on rap music as a form of expression.”
He added, “At a certain level of abstraction, the reality is even more problematic: taking rap music out of context subjects the entire genre to prosecution.”
Scott also claims that rap music is “primarily created by and historically associated with minority artists” and protected by the First Amendment. He wants the Supreme Court to “clarify the constitutional limits” of using “protected artistic expression as evidence of criminal propensity.”
In addition to Scott, other rappers such as T.I., Young Thug, and Killer Mike filed a joint amicus brief.
Their brief read, “Exaggerated tales of violence, sex, and criminal behaviour sell to a broad swath of Americans – and any would-be gangsta rapper must learn and practice these conventions of the form.”
It continued, “This case exemplifies the racial prejudice that infects a criminal proceeding when the State uses a defendant’s rap lyrics to capitalise on anti-rap bias, the misinterpretation of rap lyrics, and anti-Black bias triggered by rap music.”