- Judge rules that all lyrics have to be approved by US government before they are released
- This stipulation is part of the conditions for his release from prison
- This has led to claims that his right to free speech has been impinged
A well-known rapper must submit all songs he writes from now on to the government before they can be produced or promoted, following a ruling by a US federal judge.
Rapper BG – most famous for the classic track ‘Bling Bling’ – has had these conditions applied to his work as part of his supervised release from prison. He had been imprisoned in 2012 for illegal gun possession.
Rehabilitation goals
If any of the work BG submits is judged to be inconsistent with his rehabilitation goals, prosecutors could tighten the terms of his supervised release, The Guardian reported.
However, the US district court judge, Susie Morgan, did not acquiesce to prosecutors’ request to ban BG from ‘promoting and glorifying future gun violence/murder’ in songs or concerts. Judge Morgan said this could have violated BG’s constitutional right to free speech.
BG – real name Christopher Dorsey – was re-arrested in March after performing a gig in March in Las Vegas with Boosie and Gucci Mane. Both rappers have prior convictions and those on supervised release, such as BG, are not supposed to associate with other felons. Prosecutors also said his work undermined his rehabilitation goals – as lyrics praised two men currently serving life sentences.
Free speech concerns
In her ruling, Judge Morgan agreed with BG’s attorneys that avoiding certain subjects was a restraint of free speech but did add that prosecutors’ concerns over his rehab goals were legitimate, so made the ruling about having to turn over his lyrics for approval. BG was also ordered to complete 400 hours of unpaid community service.
The use of rap lyrics as evidence in US criminal courts is controversial, as it is held that this disproportionately affects Black artists. Acts from Jay-Z to Megan Thee Stallion and Coldplay have spoken out about this, but the practice continues.
