Recently, rapper Jamal Knox was arrested for minor drug charges, and while in jail wrote a song titles, "F the police" , which contained violent lyrics and the name of the officers which were guarding him that night. The officers took it seriously as a violent threat against their lives, and Knox was sent to prison because of "terrorist threats". In response to this, several rappers including Chance the rapper and 21 savage testified before the supreme court to say that the lyrics were not meant to be taken as a serious threat, and that anyone from this generation should know that violent lyrics in hip hop shouldn't be taken literally and that lyrics of that nature are jst political statements. They claimed that if you view these song through the filter of older genres or generations, they may seem to be a threat, but in reality they aren't meant to be taken seriously. Nevertheless, the ruling was in favor of the officers.
Although I don't agree of the idea of violent, threatening lyrics, I believe that lyrics should in no way be censored or monitored, as artists should reserve the right to express themselves in any way they want, as long as it isn't directly hurting someone. These rights are protected under the first amendment, and the freedom of speech is a major part of American society. However, many question when should we draw the line on how far to take this. For instance, you should not be able yo yell "Fire!" In a packed theatre, as it would present danger. However, as the rappers said in their testimony, these lyrics, although violent, when seen through the filter of hip hop and how it should be interpreted, are only metaphorical political statements. I'm on the fence about this, as I both support the free speech right, but also understand the fear someone might feel if they were being directly threatened by someone in a song, and didn't understand the context, (that it shouldn't be taken seriously.
Link: https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/07/politics/supreme-court-first-amendment-rappers/index.html
In my opinion, I think the song would have been fine if he had not included the names of the police officers, as that is something that could get them killed or at least singled out. In situations like this, I think it is interesting to note the generational devide. Millennial and Gen Z humor can be dark and twisted, and especially threatening, and I understand how light comments could be taken seriously by someone not aware of the original context or underlying humor.
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