Hip-Hop star Meek Mill took time away from promoting his new joint album, Too Good To Be True with Rick Ross, to address the ongoing legal case involving Young Stoner Life label founder Jeffery “Young Thug” Williams.
News broke this week that Fulton County, Georgia prosecutors will be able to use Young Thug’s lyrics in the rapper’s RICO trial. A judge ruled the prosecution could present seventeen sets of lyrics performed by Thug and his co-defendants as evidence.
“I’m conditionally admitting those pending lyrics, depending upon – or subject to a foundation that is properly laid by the state or the proponent that seeks to admit that evidence,” Judge Ural Glanville stated.
Meek Mill seemed to address Glanville’s ruling in a social media post. In addition, the Dream Chasers leader also mentioned another Atlanta-area rap star. YFN Lucci (born Rayshawn Bennett) faces a RICO indictment in Fulton County as well.
“Locking us [up] for rapping got me scared to do [an] interview,” tweeted Meek Mill on Friday, November 10. The Philadephia-bred rhymer also wrote, “Free Jeff Free Lucci.” Previously, Meek expressed his belief that Young Thug will beat the RICO case.
Locking us for rapping got me scared to do a interview free Jeff free lucci
— MeekMill (@MeekMill) November 10, 2023
Meek Mill Backed Law Limiting Prosecutors Using Rap Lyrics In Court
Robert “Meek Mill” Williams has his own history of dealing with the American justice system. He was convicted on drug and firearm charges in 2008. However, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf later pardoned Williams for those convictions.
Upon exiting prison, Meek Mill became a Founding Partner of the Reform Alliance, alongside Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and other billionaires. The nonprofit organization advocates for parole and probation reform in the United States.
Meek Mill, the RIAA and the Recording Academy supported California Governor Gavin Newsom signing the 2022 Decriminalizing Artistic Expression Act. The new law limits the use of creative works as evidence during civil and criminal proceedings.
In July 2022, Congressmen Hank Johnson (GA-04) and Jamaal Bowman (NY-16) introduced the Restoring Artistic Protection Act (RAP Act) in the U.S. House of Representatives. If passed, the federal bill would restrict the admissibility of creative or artistic expression as evidence against an artist in court. Johnson and Bowman re-introduced the RAP Act in April 2023.
“Rap, Hip-Hop and every lyrical musical piece is a beautiful form of art and expression that must be protected,” stated Congressman Bowman. He also added, “I am proud to introduce the RAP Act alongside Rep. Hank Johnson. Our judicial system disparately criminalizes Black and brown people, including Black and brown creativity.”
