Bars on the Page vs Bars Inside a Cage: On Legislation Efforts to Decriminalize Rap Lyrics

There is a push for legislation to be passed in New York that would not allow rap lyrics to be used as evidence in criminal cases. We talk with three experts about its significance.

Erik Nielsen and Andrea L. Dennis, co-authors of Rap on Trial; Image via Library of Virginia on Twitter

Murder, murder; kill, kill/shit’s real on the battlefield….

When former No Limit Records rapper McKinley (Mac) Phipps was penning the lyrics to the song “Murder, Murder; Kill, Kill” off his 1998 label debut album, Shell Shocked, he never imagined that t…