Jay-Z, Meek Mill and More Ask NY Lawmakers to Sign Into Law Bill That Prevents Rap Lyrics From Being Used at Trial

Jay-Z is teaming up with other industry heavyweights to urge New York lawmakers to sign a bill into state law to prevent lyrics from being used as evidence in a trial. 

Rolling Stone reports that the recently proposed bill titled “Rap Music on Trial” (S.7527/A.8681), first announced in November, passed successfully through the New York Senate Codes on Tuesday. This opens up the possibility for a full vote on the Senate floor. 

The bill, introduced by Senators Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan), and Jamaal Bailey (D-The Bronx), alongside Assemblymember Catalina Cruz (D-Queens), aims to amend state law to limit the admissibility of a defendant’s music as evidence during a criminal trial. Prosecutors would need to provide “clear and convincing” evidence that the lyrics are “literal, rather than figurative or fictional.”

PEOPLE obtained a letter from Jay-Z’s attorney Alex Shapiro and University of Richmond Professor Erik Nielson, which was signed by Jay-Z and other musicians and celebrities. Some of the other signatures came from Meek Mill, Fat Joe, Big Sean, Kelly Rowland, Robin Thicke, Killer Mike, and more. 

“Rather than acknowledge rap music as a form of artistic expression, police and prosecutors argue that the lyrics should be interpreted literally — in the words of one prosecutor, as ‘autobiographical journals’ — even though the genre is rooted in a long tradition of storytelling that privileges figurative language, is steeped in hyperbole, and employs all of the same poetic devices we find in more traditional works of poetry,” the letter reads.

“This tactic effectively denies rap music the status of art and, in the process, gives prosecutors a dangerous advantage in the courtroom,” it adds. “By presenting rap lyrics as rhymed confessions of illegal behavior, they are often able to obtain convictions even when other evidence is lacking.”

“Our lyrics are a creative form of self-expression and entertainment — just like any other genre,” Fat Joe told Rolling Stone. “We want our words to be recognized as art rather than being weaponized to get convictions in court.”

Hoylman used Johnny Cash as an example, stating no one actually thinks Johnny Cash “shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.” In addition, he said no one believes David Byrne is a “psycho killer.” But when it comes to rap music, artists have repeatedly seen their music used against them in a court of law.