Hip-Hop Observes its Golden Anniversary

HOW A “NICHE MOVEMENT” INFLUENCED THE LAW AND CHANGED THE WORLD

Part 3: Additional Legal Issues and Hip-Hop’s Influence on the Nation and the World

By ileta! A. Sumner

Part I of this Series discussed the origins and development of Hip-Hop. Part II discussed some of the copyright concerns that Hip-Hop generated. This Part III discusses some additional legal issues arising from HipHop, and Hip-Hop’s influence on the nation and the world.

The Parental Advisory Label

Before 1985, a youngster could purchase any album she desired without any legal restriction. However, that all changed once Mary Elizabeth “Tipper” Gore, the then-wife of former Senator (and later Vice President) Al Gore, purchased the Academy-Award-winning soundtrack “Purple Rain,” by Prince, for her ten-year-old daughter. Tipper was supposedly shocked upon learning from her daughter that the album had a track, “Darling Nikki,” which contained an explicit description of a lady engaged in sexual activity. It is intriguing that Tipper would be surprised about such lyrics, given that the soundtrack was from an R rated movie (that some reviewers had described as being “sometimes raunchy”) by the artist Prince, whose previously released hits included “I Want to Be Your Lover” (1979); “Controversy” (1981), which asked, “Am I straight or am I gay?”; and “Little Red Corvette” (1983), with its barely veiled allusions to the sex act.

Anyway, Tipper became so enraged that she had not been tipped about the sexual subject matter discussed on the album that she and a group of friends, including the wives of other influential Washington men (such as the wife of then-Secretary of Treasury James Baker III), formed the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC). Initially underwritten by a $5,000 donation from Beach Boy Mike Love, the PMRC sought to create a rating system, not unlike that of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), which had rated every movie released in the United States since 1968. Instead of being rated G–X (now NC-17) like movies are rated, during Congressional hearings, PMRC proposed that albums with objectionable content be labeled as follows: (1) X for “profane or sexually explicit” lyrics; (2) V for violence; (3) D/A for drug or alcohol references; and (4) O for “occult” content.

In order to bolster their argument for what they declared was not censorship—but rather the dissemination of information to parents about the types of music available to their children—the PMRC submitted the “Filthy Fifteen,” fifteen songs—including “Darling Nikki” of course—that described situations that the PMRC deemed too scandalous for the ears of minors without making their parents aware. At a five-hour hearing involving singers and representatives from the music production industry, it was clean-cut John Denver who made the most compelling argument for self-governance of any type of content warning, when his hit “Rocky Mountain High” had been misconstrued as an endorsement for drugs.

After years of negotiations, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) compromised by agreeing to voluntarily put an “Explicit Lyrics – Parental Advisory” label on the bottom right corner of physical releases. By 1990—when the first album to carry the label “Banned in the USA” by the hip-hop group 2 Live Crew was released— the label had been revised to read “Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics.” Like 2 Live Crew, every hip-hop act that indulged in language decided to be profane—an intrinsic part of the majority of “gangsta rap” albums, a genre that proliferated the music from performers initially from the South Central Los Angeles/Compton areas of California—either had to have this label emblazoned on their work or have the lyrics accessible on the back of the record or CD. Eventually, the label transitioned into the ubiquitous “Parental Advisory: Explicit Content” warning that became embedded into the very artwork of the artist’s release. Consequentially, that forced some producers to release “clean versions,” in which explicit lyrics were “beeped,” edited, or blanked, so as to appease “family friendly” outlets such as Wal-Mart and its affiliates— Sam’s Club and Walmart.com—that refused to carry any music that had been so labeled. Mind you, no definition of “explicit” was ever given.

Even so, the warning label did little to hinder sales of “gansta rap” music. In fact, it may have contributed to making it even more popular by giving it an aura of “mystique.” What had been called “taboo” piqued the interest of kids, making millionaires out of hip-hop artists and sending the sales of their music to platinum status (1 million units sold) and above. Moreover, in the digital era, even though iTunes has “Explicit” in bright red letters carved into the metadata of such material, any child with a WiFi connection (and whose parents have failed to use parental controls on their devices), can stream this material unencumbered, and download it as well. Thus, while Tipper and the PMRC won the battle of getting “obscene” material labeled, they did not win the war against the expansion of the sale of so-called “indecent” material to minors. In fact, they may have accomplished just the opposite.

The RAP Act

Between 2020 and 2022, prosecutors in over 500 trials of hip-hop artists used the lyrics of their songs against them as evidence of their having committed the actual criminal offenses described therein. First introduced in the United States Congress in 2022, the Restoring Artistic Protection Act (RAP Act) was reintroduced by its original presenters—Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) and Jamaal Bowman (D-NY)—in April 2023. The purpose of the act is to change the Federal Rules of Evidence by the addition of a “presumption that would limit the admissibility of evidence of” a defendant’s “creative or artistic expression against” the defendant “in court.”

The assumption that a hip-hop artist’s lyrics are literal is something that seems unique to this particular genre. Prosecutors defend the practice since, as they claim, the lyrics are an “overt act in furtherance of a conspiracy.” Nevertheless, as a press release announcing the RAP Act mentioned, in the case of Bey – Cousin v. Powell, 570 F. Supp. 3d. 251 (E.D. Pa. 2021), the court proclaimed that Freddie Mercury had not confessed to “having just killed a man” by putting a “gun against his head” and “pull[ing] the trigger” in “Bohemian Rhapsody” (1975) by Queen. Neither had Bob Marley admitted to having just “shot a sheriff” in “I Shot the Sheriff” (1973). Likewise, no one accused Johnny Cash of “shooting a man in Reno, just to watch him die,” in “Folsom Prison Blues” (1968). Why then are hip-hop artists held to such an amazingly different standard?

This question took on immediacy in the trial of Jeffery Lamar Williams (a/k/a Young Thug) in Georgia. Although rap lyrics have been used for decades against hip-hop defendants, in the case of Young Thug, their inclusion in the indictment of the Grammy Award-winning artist brought this practice to the attention of the nation, and ignited a cause within the music industry to “Protect Black Art.” Somewhat surprisingly, the RAP Act is getting bipartisan support. Furthermore, Louisiana and Missouri have already passed similar legislation, which was introduced by Republicans. Though California was the first state to pass such a law in 2022, Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey, and New York all have legislation currently pending. In discussing the urgency of this legislation, Rep. Bowman has explained that when rap lyrics are brought before juries as evidence in criminal trials, those juries tend to believe the lyrics to be confessions, whereas the lyrics for other genres of music are understood to be expressions of art.

A point made by Rep. Maxine Waters (DCA)(representative of the South Central Los Angeles District from which a lot of gansta rappers who have faced criminal trials hail) is critical in understanding why it is crucial to acknowledge the rights of the speakers to make their declarations:

It would be a foolhardy mistake to single out poets as the cause of America’s problems. These are our children and they’ve invented a new art form to describe their pains, fears, and frustrations with us adults. Just because we don’t like the symbols they use or [the words they choose, we], shouldn’t allow that to embark on a course of censorship.

Influence of Hip-Hop on the Nation and the World

From a back-to-school party in the Bronx, hip-hop has grown to become the best-selling musical genre, even surpassing the impact that rock and roll made on the world. In 1982, MTV—at one time described by Mark Anthony Neal, Professor of African and American Studies at Duke University, as “arguably the best example of cultural apartheid in the U.S.” because of its dearth of Black videos when the network began— discovered that once it opened its doors to Black videos (by playing Michael Jackson’s “Billy Jean”) there was indeed an audience for Black video music. Therefore, imagine the surprise of the powers behind MTV when hip-hop legends Run-DMC and rock gods Aerosmith literally blew the walls down with their mash-up rendition of the latter’s “Walk This Way” in 1986! Not long thereafter, in 1988, the station started “Yo! MTV Raps!” and it quickly became the most watched show on the network, introducing hip-hop to its primarily white audience. Its success convinced MTV to export the show overseas, thereby launching what had begun as a “niche movement” into a global phenomenon.

Besides showing up on the televisions around the world, hip-hop made the leap to legitimate theater. It hit the stages of Broadway in the ground-breaking, Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Hamilton in 2015. Audiences were captivated by the unique linguistic styling of Lin Manuel-Miranda’s “rap opera” about the founding father, and crowds were mesmerized around the world. In addition, hip-hop acts thrilled audiences on the Super Bowl stage in 2022 with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, 50 cent, and Academy Award winner Eminem (acclaimed for his autobiographical hip-hop tune “Lose Yourself” in 2002), along with Pulitzer Prize winner Kendrick Lamar (though he was honored for his album DAMN, he had previously released “Alright,” which became an anthem for the Black Lives Matter movement).

While the leap of hip-hop to stages outside of concert arenas was new, its impact on fashion was old hat. Not only did performers namecheck fashion designers in their songs, soon the clothes the artists wore appeared on the backs of long-legged models as they strutted Tommy Hilfiger’s hip-hop-inspired threads down the runways during fashion week. Baggy pants with hints of their underwear peeking out, and bold colors, became the uniform for fashion plates. It did not take long for other designers to follow suit. Fashion did not just imitate street life: Hip-hop artists opened their own fashion houses. Soon, everyday folks could dress like hip-hop stars for a reasonable price.

To show how mainstream hip-hop has become, one need look no further than their flat screen TV. The “Tonight Show”—an NBC network staple for over sixty years—is no longer anchored by Doc Severinsen and his band, but by Academy-Award-winning hip-hop artist Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson (with his ever-present afro pick protruding from his ‘fro) and his group, The Roots, who have been its house band for the last ten years, ever since Jimmy Fallon took over Jay Leno’s chair as host. Yet, it is not just television programming that has accepted hip-hop into the fold. Family department stores like Target use artists like the queer, dynamic tour de force Janelle Monáe to help sell its products to the American public. Likewise, Cover Girl has signed Ms. Monáe, as well as hip-hop stars Queen Latifah and Rhianna, to be the face of its makeup line, much like Christy Brinkley and Cindy Crawford were back in the 1980’s and '90’s.

Still, while hip-hop has broken into the international marketing game, it made its debut in the biggest game of all: this summer, at the 2024 Paris Olympics, break dancers were in contention for gold medals for the first time. The dancing sport was part of the 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires and—with over 2.5 million social media views—was so well received that it was made part of the regular Olympics relatively quickly. Although the American team had just one competitor from the Bronx, the international teams are thriving.

Like rock before it, hip-hop was started by young Black artists; not long afterwards, though, it found crossover appeal in a young, white, primarily male population. It was the voice of the disenfranchised, the misunderstood, the angry, and the struggling, all set over a groove that could make the listeners want to move. Also like rock, there was a party aspect to it as well, which just made it that much more appealing. It gave a platform to those who did not have one before, and made many of them rich. While a sector of it was off-putting to some audiences, just as some rock was before it, hip-hop has persevered for fifty years, a fact that would have shocked some spectators who—fifty years ago—watched kids spinning like whirling dervishes on their heads! But because of its basis in truth, hip-hop has found a devoted audience that now qualifies for AARP.

Accordingly, if artists can work out ways to get licenses for previously recorded music so that they can continue to use samples to make fantastic works that will be amenable to the courts, and the courts can discontinue the practice of using the lyrics of the music against various artists when they do end up in court, there is no reason why the public will not be able to enjoy hip-hop for another fifty years—even with a big red “EXPLICIT” warning embedded with every single download.

ileta! A. Sumner, Esq. is a former President of the Bexar County Women’s Bar Association (2002) and the original General Counsel and creator of the legal department of the Battered Women’s and Children Shelter. She has been disabled since 2006. She can be reached at (210) 421-2877 (cell), litig7rij@aol.com.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Jonathan Abrams, “Breakers Grapple with Hip-Hop’s Big Olympic Moment,” New York Times, October 10, 2023, https://www.nytimes. com/2023/10/10/arts/dance/olympics-breakingdance.html.

Tom Cole, “You Ask, We Answer: ‘Parental Advisory’ Labels – The Criteria and the History,” npr, October 29, 2010, 10:30 a.m. EDT, https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2010/10/29/130905176/you-ask-we-answer-parental-advisory---why-when-how.

Shirley Halperin, Ethan Stanfeld, “RAP Act Introduced in Congress Would Bar the Use of Lyrics as Evidence in Court Proceedings,” VARIETY, July 27, 2022, 4:09 p.m. PT, https://variety. com/2022/music/news/rap-lyrics-crimimal-evidence-congress-bill-legislation-1235327683/.

Chuck Philips, “Rap Finds a Supporter in Rep. Maxine Waters: Pop music: The congresswoman aligns herself with ‘our children’ and defends their ‘new art form,’ Los Angeles Times, February 15, 1994, 12 AM” PT, https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-02-15-ca-23195-story.html.

Debra Allen, “Michael Jackson broke down racial barriers,” “CNN,” https://www.cnn.com/2009/ SHOWBIZ/Music/06/28/michael.jackson.black. community/.

Charlize Frazier, “CoverGirls: All the Beautiful Black Women Who Made the Brand Iconic,” HelloBeautiful, September 12, 2017, https:// hellobeautiful.com/playlist/black-women-whoposed-for-covergirl/item/4.

“Top Gear: The oral history of hip-hop’s love affair with Tommy Hilfiger,” COMPLEX, August 22, 2016, https://www.complex.com/style/a/complex/tommy-hilfiger-hiphop-oral-history.

Isaac Sample, “What was the first album to have a parental advisory sticker?” Hip Hop Hero –OLD SCHOOL ARCHIVES, Tuesday 27 September 2022, 1600 BST, https://hiphophero. com/what-was-the-first-album-to-have-a-parental-advisory-sticker/.

Ashlee Banks, “Reps Johnson and Bowman re-introduce RAP Act to protect rappers in the courtroom,” The Grio, April 28, 2023, https://thegrio. com/2023/04/28/reps-johnson-bowman-rap-actcongress/.

Deena Zaru, “As Young Thug awaits trial, the push to limit the use of rap lyrics in court gains bipartisan support,” abcNEWS, May 6, 2023, 5:01 AM, https://abcnews.go.com/US/young-thug-awaitstrial-push-limit-rap-lyrics/story?id=99073855.