The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Rap Lyrics as Evidence - Long Story Short

Episode Date: February 5, 2023

Should rap lyrics be allowed to be used by prosecutors as evidence in court? D.L. Hughley breaks it down in a new Long Story Short. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Should rap lyrics be used as evidence in the courtroom? The rapper's lyrics, one piece of evidence prosecutors are using in the indictment. I never killed anybody, but I got something to do with that. The prosecution, citing lyrics like that in the indictment as proof of criminal conspiracy. The district attorney believes he is the ringleader of the YSL gang, and his lyrics are fair game. I think if you decide to admit your crimes over a beat, I'm going to use it. That sounds like every mama I've ever seen in my life. FYY, young people, when your name is Jung Thug or Gunna, you're gonna go to jail.

He's a mumble rapper, but they heard them clearly on that wiretap. I know that. The issue is, should prosecutors use rap lyrics in criminal trials? That's what I want to talk about tonight in our segment, long story short. Well, since the 90s prosecutors have used lyrics as evidence in more than over 500 trials. But don't get me wrong, if you rap about something something. Well, since the 90s, prosecutors have used lyrics as evidence against indefendence in more than over 500 trials. But don't get me wrong, if you rap about something you did do, well, that's a confession. If you rap about something you didn't do, that is artistic expression.

And here are just a few examples of ways rappers' lyrics get used in court. A rapper named Terrence Hatch, known as Lil Busey, was trying for first-degree murder. Prosecutors argued that a few cryptic words of one rap song were in fact a confession. Rapper McKinley Phipps was sentenced to 30 years in prison for manslaughter. Prosecutors presented spliced together lyrics from two different songs as evidence at his trial. Police say Antoine Stewart, a rapper, who goes by the name Twain Gotti, made a big mistake when he recorded the song, Ride Out. Police believe Stuart brags through his lyrics

about how he killed Brian Dean and Christopher Horton. Listen. Everybody saw when I'm a t-suked gun. Some of the details match. The shooting happened on a porch. No witnesses immediately came forward, but others don't. The time of day is wrong, there wasn't a stabbing, the caliber of the gun is wrong, and there's only one victim mentioned, not two.

Based largely on that rap, and on the accounts of two witnesses, given years after the shooting, the rapper was a double murder. Okay, they got the gun wrong, they got the number of, tha, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, tha, tha, thiii. And, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the the thi, the the the the the the the tho, tho, thi, the the the the the, the, the, the the their, their, their, their, their, their, the the, the, the the, the, the, the, the, the the the the the the the the the the the the the th.. And, th. And, th. And, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the, the, the, the, thea, ta.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea.a.ea.a.ea.ea.ea. And, their tha, their tha, tha. Okay, they got the gun wrong, they got the stabbing wrong, they got the number of victims wrong. The only thing they got right was the porch. And every black person I know got a goddamn porch. I mean... And by the way, not everything black people saying songs is true. Like Bob Marley, he didn't actually shoot the sheriff. He just wanted you to think he did so you all wouldn't f-a him. That's it. Sir Mick's a lot, he don't like big butts.

Nope, he's more of a boob guy, trust me. And I'm a comedian, I ain't never in my life seen a rabbi and a priest walking to a damn bar. I've never seen that. Art is an expression. They use this to reflect black life in America, and now they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're this to reflect black life in America, and now they're being punished for it. But some prosecutors say too bad. David LeBon is a former gang prosecutor. He's now the CEO of the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys.

I would say you can't have it both ways. I cannot say that I'm rapping about stuff because this is what I live in, and this is what I see every day, and then come into court and to to to to to the the their their their their their their and their the and say everything that I said in that rap is completely untrue. Yeah, you can have it both ways. It's called fiction. And they, uh, they have a whole section in Barnes and Nobles. Read a book, bitch. I don't even think the prosecutors think their lyrics are confessing.

They just do it because it works and it works because juries are made of people and people are kind of racist. As a matter of fact, in a recent study, people were given identical lyrics and told that they either came from country, artist or rap artist or heavy metal artists. And surprise, surprise. People were more likely to think that rap lyrics were written by a criminal. Clearly, rap is just cold for black persons. Country is cold for white person. Heavy metal is cold for, who the fuck knows? I don't know what that is.

But there is violence in almost every art form. But the one with young black rappers is the only one that gets treated this way. And this isn't even hypothetical. There was a white woman on trial for murdering her husband and she had written an essay called How to Murder Your Husband. And guess what? The judge, he wouldn't allow the essay to be read in court because he said it could prejudice the jury. She lucky Dr. Dre didn't write the four work. And I agree with that judge. It does prejudice the jury. The worst part about all of this is that rappers have to listen to their lyrics get

butchered in court by people with no flow at all. Hey, this is that slime shit. Hey, K-S-L shit. K-K-in-12 shit. Murder, gang bitch. Y-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S YSL shit. Hey, killing 12 shit. Murder gang bitch. YSL until we're dead and pale. I never killed anybody, but I got something to do with that body. Ready for war like I'm Russia. Slimeball n-b-shit like, yeah, yeah, yeah. Why would lie, I got mob tiezed. And y'all thought Nick Cannon couldn't rap. Uh, so look, there are a whole lot of problem with the justice system in America, but this

is an easy fix. Long story short, just stopped using lyrics and court. That rhyme, but don't use it against me. I was just kidding around. Explore more shows from the Daily Show podcast universe by searching the Daily Show, wherever you get your podcasts. Watch the Daily Show week nightsights at 11 10 Central on Comedy Central and stream full episodes anytime on Fairmount Plus. This has been a Comedy Central Podcast.