Young Thug and his legal team delivered opening statements on Tuesday (November 28), with an attorney telling the court that the rapper’s lyrics are not evidence of crimes. Instead, the lawyer argued that the music told stories about the rough upbringing Young Thug experienced in the streets of Atlanta and not that of an assumed crime lord.
The RICO trial brought by the state of Georgia against Young Thug and over two dozeon other defendants connected to the alleged street operation YSL opened on Monday (November 27) with prosecutors stating that the rapper, born Jeffrey Williams, was the mastermind of a criminal organization.
As seen in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, attorney Brian Steel pushed back at the assertion that Thug’s success was tied to street crimes instead of his successful music career. Framing Thug’s humble upbringing in an Atlanta housing project as one of 11 children, Steel says that the music the rapper would go on to make was nothing more than him unpacking the things he saw as a young person.
Steel’s statements contrasted with those made by Fulton County’s chief deputy district attorney, Adriane Love, who referred to Young Thug under another name: King Slime. Love stated that as King Slime, Thug directed the YSL gang that, quote, “moved like a pack” under his leadership.
Judge Ural Glanville granted prosecutors passage to use 17 sets of lyrics from Thug in the trial to prove their case. Steel argues that the use of the lyrics is nothing more than artistic expression and a violation of free speech.
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Photo: Getty
