Young Thug Trial Begins

Famed Atlanta Rapper, Young Thug, also known as Jeffrey Lamar Williams, will stand trial in the upcoming weeks for RICO charges in the state of Georgia and for helping found the violent street gang, Young Slime Life (YSL). 

Williams, who is being charged alongside rapper Gunna, Sergio Kitchens. Both were charged with conspiracy to violate Georgia’s RICO act. RICO, which means Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, is a way to attempt to stop people from participating in illegal activities for profit. YSL, which originally started at Young Stoner Life Records, was created in 2016 and signed major artists like Gunna and Lil Keed, helping slingshot them to stardom. Because of how RICO charges work, the court indicted 28 members of the record label under the same crime. 

One of the largest pieces of evidence used against Williams was his Lyrics. The Grammy award winning artist for his work on This is America with Childish Gambino has had many hits throughout the years, many with references to YSL. An ongoing problem with Rappers has been courts using lyrics against them, which can even be seen with rappers like Tay-K and Lil Wayne. Many believe it’s unfair to use the lyrics of a song to charge someone with a real crime, in fact not long after Young Thug was charged, Representative Hank Johnson of Georgia proposed a bill in the house to protect artists from being prosecuted for lyrics. Even here at Palisade, many students have shared their opinions on this, such as Owen Bickham, “From what I’ve heard about it, it sounds a bit unfair, the use of lyrics used as character defamation to couple with other evidence is kind of a new level of racism seen in the courts.” No matter what one’s opinion on this case is, it should be clear that the outcome of this trial will set a precedent for the future of rap music and the law.