| | | | |  | | By Jackie Padilla | With help from Ella Creamer, Rishika Dugyala and Teresa Wiltz
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POLITICO illustration/Getty Images | What's up, Recast fam! The CDC admits it botched its pandemic response, a Jan. 6 grand jury subpoenas White House documents and a federal judge temporarily blocks Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' "Stop WOKE Act." But today, while Brakkton's on vacation, we're diving into rap and freedom of speech. Freedom of speech is a key factor in many forms of art, but that creative license can be interpreted and used against you in court. Democratic Reps. Jamaal Bowman of New York and Hank Johnson of Georgia are pushing legislation to ensure that is no longer the case for song lyrics. The Restoring Artistic Protection [RAP] Act is designed to prevent prosecutors from using rappers' lyrics and artistic expression as evidence in civil and criminal cases. Young Thug is a recent example of how the legal system can gather an artist's portfolio and use it against them. The Atlanta rapper is in jail awaiting trial on racketeering charges, street gang activity and drug possession. The indictment focused heavily on his lyrics, music videos and social media, all of which are being considered as evidence against him.
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| History is repeating itself. Back in 2007, Olutosin Oduwole was a college kid and aspiring rapper in Illinois. He was convicted and sent to prison for "attempting a terrorist threat" — because he drafted "provocative song lyrics." In 2013, his conviction was reversed on appeal and the Illinois Supreme Court rejected state Attorney General Lisa M. Madigan's appeal of the reversal. Bowman and Johnson believe this legal tactic is part of an ongoing effort to criminalize Black art. Some states, such as New York and California, are considering bills that, if passed, would ensure that lyrics can't be used against a defendant. As Bowman sees it, this piecemeal approach isn't the answer. A national standard is in order. Rap, he says "is expression, it is literature, it is poetry. But at its core is freedom of speech." We spoke with Bowman about the proposed legislation and its significance in criminal justice reform and how singers and songwriters historically have been ridiculed and prosecuted for their art. All too often, he argues, systemic racism plays a part in these prosecutions: White artists — even in the face of blatantly violent messaging — don't face the same prosecutorial scrutiny, he says. The RAP Act was introduced in July this year, before a congressional recess. Bowman says the timing of the bill's introduction has delayed adding co-sponsors to the list, but he's seen major interest from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who are eager to move it forward. ◆◆◆ This interview has been edited for clarity and length. Check out the Snapchat version of Jackie's interview on Sunday here. THE RECAST: Let's talk about the RAP Act in the simplest terms. What is it? BOWMAN: So it's a bill to ensure that rap lyrics aren't used to indict, criminalize and convict artists for their freedom of speech. You know, hip hop rap is an art form. It is expression, it is literature, it is poetry, but at its core is freedom of speech.
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| They're also incredibly creative storytellers. They use personification, metaphor, simile, foreshadowing, and all the elements of literature. And to have the genre be targeted this way, it's an issue of racial justice. It connects to the historic racial justice that's a part of our criminal justice system. And when you look at other genres of music — rock and roll, heavy metal, jazz, others — you do not see the criminalization of their words. Even though, you know, Freddie Mercury talked about killing a man, which he actually never really did, right? Because it's art and poetry. So it's just to ensure that rappers aren't targeted for their freedom of speech.
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| THE RECAST: Why did you feel this bill was necessary to write in the first place? BOWMAN: I had been in touch with the hip hop community about a variety of things. One issue that came up was the issue of violence in certain communities, and I wanted to partner with them to address the issue of violence through music and through just their platforms and their fan bases. And one of the things they shared with me as a concern was the recent arrests of Young Thug and how the judge and the prosecutors were considering the use of [his] lyrics in the criminal trial. And shoutout to New York state Sen. Jamaal Bailey and state Sen. Catalina Cruz. They had introduced a bill in the New York Senate and passed this bill … to ensure their rap lyrics won't be used to prosecute and convict. So we modeled our bill after that bill and after the work that's going on in California, as well as the energy in the hip hop community overall.
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| Every week, we sit down with diverse and influential characters who are shaking up politics. Who should we profile next? Let us know. Email us at therecast@politico.com.
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THE RECAST: What has been the reaction from your colleagues who maybe aren't as in touch with the hip hop community or communities of color, who may not know this is an issue?
BOWMAN: You know, what's really powerful is because this is a freedom of speech issue. Many colleagues really care about it. Even Republican colleagues really care about it. We introduced it at a time where a lot of other things were going on and we were just about to go on recess. So we haven't been able to get the large amount of original co-sponsors as of yet. We know that's going to change. But what we've seen outside of Congress is huge support across the country for this bill because, again, we cannot criminalize art.
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| And the amazing young people in those communities created this art form, found their voices, and created economies all over the world. And now it is the biggest-selling genre of music all over the world. So yeah, the growth in terms of support inside the Congress is going to be huge. But outside it's already there. THE RECAST: What's something you learned while writing this bill and speaking with artists who were giving you their thoughts about their own experiences? BOWMAN: I knew a lot about it because I'm 46. I was born in '76. Hip hop started in '73. So I kind of grew up with hip hop. I was a young boy when the 2 Live Crew album was coming under scrutiny and being removed from record stores. I was a young kid when [the] Ice-T song "Cop Killer" was being scrutinized and criminalized. And I was a kid when NWA's "Fuck Tha Police" was being scrutinized and criminalized by the FBI.
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| So I'm familiar with the history of it and the importance of it now. You know, I had a chance to speak to Kendrick Lamar's manager, who also manages Nas , and he said this issue is top of mind for them. We have to take this on as something very important for the country. So to have artists of that magnitude and that stature from the culture beat into something like this, it just makes it easier to write it and support it. THE RECAST: We're seeing many artists be outspoken in their music, especially about this current political climate. Do you think there are still limitations holding artists back from fully expressing themselves without safeguards like this bill that could protect them? BOWMAN: I haven't seen that as of yet, but I will ask that question to artists that I speak to going forward, because it's a very important question. The purpose of art is to express yourself and express your creativity and express your emotions and respond to your surroundings. Art is healing. And hip hop is art. The purpose of the First Amendment of the Constitution is to ensure the freedom of speech across our nation. And without freedom of speech, you do not have a democracy. So that's why this is so important. The minute you begin to hold back is the minute that you lose your voice.
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| Hip hop has been the thing that has created self-determination for so many in the culture, including myself. THE RECAST: Break down how this bill classifies what is and isn't valid in court. BOWMAN: Well, first of all, you got to have hard evidence, too, to indict and prosecute. You need forensic evidence. You need witness statements. You need weapons. You need all the things you would need in any criminal court. You cannot begin the prosecutorial process with hip hop lyrics like that. That's the blatant targeting of someone's freedom of speech in someone's art. Again, art that uses metaphor and all kinds of literary devices. So if you have hard evidence and a series of things in place like witnesses, a smoking gun … and a lyric that connects directly to everything that you gathered, then maybe that should be under consideration. But [if] you begin with the lyrics and work from there, [that's] not acceptable and should not be acceptable in our legal system.
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Alex Wong/Getty Images | THE RECAST: Why is it important that Americans know this bill exists? BOWMAN: Hip hop is the largest-selling genre of music in the world. It's a culture that permeates every aspect of American life — and it's free speech. There are so many young people who are finding their voice in this very complex, crazy world. And many of them find their voice through their art and through their singing, through their songwriting, through their rapping and emceeing. They need to know that they can say what's on their heart and talk about what's in their community, and even use personification, metaphor and language, which some may consider inappropriate in their expression. It's also important to realize [that] other genres of music have never been criminalized, or rarely. When you talk about fiction writing, Stephen King, for example. When you talk about fictional movies, I mean, the violence and the blood and the death and the horror and everything in those genres aren't criminalized. So hip hop should not be. And we believe that part of that criminalization is because [rappers] are disproportionately African American. And it's another example, unfortunately, of our legal and political system targeting Black people. ◆◆◆ It's the weekend, finally — one of the final few before summer calls it quits. But before we send you off with some weekend to-dos, here are a few must-reads: Check out this piece by POLITICO'S Bianca Quilantan, last Tuesday's guest host here at The Recast. She reports that six months after eight historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) were the targets of racist bomb threats, no one has been arrested. And HBCU presidents are not happy. One year after Kabul fell to the Taliban 2.0, photographer Nanna Muu Steffensen shows us the restricted lives of women in the city through a striking series of photos. (Our very own Ella Creamer wrote the accompanying essay.)
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A doctor and midwife update patient records at a busy maternity hospital in Kabul. | Nanna Muus for POLITICO | Building-renovation woes abound in Weike Wang's deft flash fiction offering this week. In culture news: Nearly 50 years after actress Sacheen Littlefeather was booed by the Academy Awards audience when she refused to accept an Oscar on behalf of Marlon Brando in protest of Native American stereotyping in the media, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has apologized to her.
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On March 27, 1973, Sacheen Littlefeather told an Academy Awards ceremony audience that Marlon Brando was declining to accept his Oscar as best actor for his role in "The Godfather." | AP Photo | Keke Palmer talks you through her week in outfits. Three Netflix projects explore Indian arranged marriages in new lights. And debuting today on Amazon Freevee: "Sprung," starring Garret Dillahunt and Phillip Garcia as convicted criminals who are suddenly released from prison because of "the 'rona." Jenna Ortega is a stone-faced Wednesday Addams in "Wednesday," director Tim Burton 's spinoff of the "Addams Family," coming to Netflix this fall. Peep the trailer here. What makes a joke about race not just OK, but great? Three POC comics — Joel Kim Booster, Anjelah Johnson-Reyes and Ziwe — share their thoughts with NPR's "Code Switch." BlackPink just dropped a new single, "Pink Venom." Bella Poarch is in "Living Hell" in her new single. | 
| But on the other hand, there's Rina Sawayama, who's got a new album coming out in September and wants to take everyone to hell with her. "This Hell," she sings, in a single from her upcoming effort, is better with you.
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| TikToks of the day: Wasabi woes
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| Covid smart
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