Being behind bars hasn’t stopped Young Thug from making festival appearances. He turned up at Hot 97’s Summer Jam on June 12 via prerecorded audio to thank fans for their support and urge them to sign the Petition to Protect Black Art. “I just want to say thank you to all my friends and my family for coming out and supporting us,†he said, in audio playing over a screenshot of his Zoom bail hearing. “You know, this isn’t about just me or YSL. I always use my music as a form of artistic expression, and I see now that Black artists and rappers don’t have that freedom. Everybody please sign the Protect Black Art petition and keep praying for us. I love you all.†Thug, together with Gunna and others affiliated with his label YSL, are awaiting trial on RICO charges and their alleged involvement in illicit gang activity.
Created in response to the slew of criminal charges Young Stoner Life artists are facing, 300 Entertainment co-founder and CEO Kevin Liles and Atlantic Records COO Julie Greenwald circulated Rap Music on Trial: The Petition to Protect Black Art. Prosecutors claim Young Thug and other YSL artists are operating a criminal gang, relying on song lyrics. “In courtrooms across America, Black creativity and artistry is being criminalized. With increasing and troubling frequency, prosecutors are attempting to use rap lyrics as confessions, just like they’re doing in this case,†Liles and Greenwald write, both of whom have a vested interest in keeping their artists out of jail. The petition asks lawmakers to “prompt adoption of legislation at the Federal and State level that would limit how prosecutors can use creative and artistic expression as evidence against defendants in criminal trials.†“It’s our hope that this legislation and similar Bills will become law across America to end this attack on our First Amendment freedoms that disproportionately harms Black and other minority artists,†it continues. In May, the New York State Senate approved the Rap Music on Trial bill and is awaiting approval from the State Assembly and a signature from Governor Kathy Hochul. If the bill passes, it will require prosecutors to prove that a lyric is evidence before it is shown to a jury.