California just made it harder to use rap lyrics as criminal evidence. Will more states follow?

California has become the first state to restrict the use of creative expression in a criminal proceeding, and artists and free speech advocates are hoping that more states and the federal government will follow suit.

Prosecutors have contended that lyrics sometimes contain open confessions to crimes, while critics argue that the evidence unfairly targets people of color, as rappers’ songs — which are often figurative — can embrace themes of criminality and violence.

“No other music genre, no other art genre gets thrown in people's faces like that, and can drag them into court or put them in jail,” Chessie Thacher, a senior ACLU staff attorney, told Yahoo News.

“Most rappers are Black men or Latino men, or men from low-income backgrounds. And that's completely unacceptable. It’s obviously a racial justice issue,” said Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y.

Bowman and Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., introduced the Restoring Artistic Protection Act (RAP Act) earlier this year. The bill would limit the use of rap lyrics in the courtroom, but it won’t completely exclude them. “If prosecutors have forensic evidence, hard evidence, and enough evidence to move forward without the lyrics, then you could bring lyrics in on a back end,” Bowman told Yahoo News.

In Atlanta, the Fulton County district attorney, Fani Willis, indicted two prominent artists, the Grammy-winning Young Thug and Grammy-nominated Gunna, alongside 26 other defendants, in a controversial August prosecution that relies in part on rap lyrics. Both artists are accused of being part of a criminal conspiracy that includes theft and distributing narcotics, and both have maintained their innocence.

Willis bluntly defends her inclusion of the lyrics as evidence. She also leads one of the most high-profile investigations into former President Donald Trump.

“I think if you decide to admit your crimes over a beat, I’m going to use it,” Willis told reporters at a news conference after unveiling the indictment. “I’m going to continue to do that. People can continue to be angry about it. I have some legal advice: Don’t confess to crimes on rap lyrics if you do not want them used."

One of the lyrics used in the indictment is “Me and my crew striking out, striking in all black, send me the drop, we’ll kick in the house, if we steal a car we’re going to take off the tag.”

More than 500 cases between the early 1990s and 2017 used rap lyrics as evidence, according to Erik Nielson, a professor at the University of Richmond and author of “Rap on Trial,” who says that is just the tip of the iceberg. “That [number] really doesn't reflect the pervasiveness of the practice. We know the number is far higher — thousands, maybe tens of thousands,” he said.

“Do I think that rappers should be afraid? Yes,” Nielson said. “We know that no other fictional form, musical or otherwise, is targeted this way.”

Recently a California judge overturned the conviction of Gary Bryant Jr., an amateur rap artist who was charged with murder in 2014. The judge ruled that the rap lyrics used in his trial likely caused racial bias.

“Mr. Bryant’s case illustrates the bold and critical challenge of identifying and attempting to eliminate the ways racial bias creeps into our criminal legal system,” Bryant’s attorney, Evan Kuluk, told Yahoo News. “Language that invokes and relies upon negative racial stereotypes has no place in our courtrooms.”

At the end of last month, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the Decriminalizing Artistic Expression Act, which requires prosecutors who want to admit rap lyrics and other forms of artistic expression to hold a separate hearing, away from the jury, to prove that the evidence is relevant to the case. During the historic signing, several artists gathered virtually, including Meek Mill, Killer Mike, Ty Dolla Sign, Tyga, Yg, E40 and Too Short.

“We can be afforded the same rights as filmmakers and artists from different genres. That hip-hop is not being prosecuted just for being hip-hop,” West Coast rapper Too Short said in a video on Twitter. Now California, one of the largest states in the country, is the first state with a law that protects a musician’s freedom of speech.

"Artists of all kinds should be able to create without the fear of unfair and prejudicial prosecution," Newsom said in a statement. "California's culture and entertainment industry set trends around the world, and it's fitting that our state is taking a nation-leading role to protect creative expression and ensure that artists are not criminalized under biased policies."

Additional states may also embrace this type of legislation. In New York, state Sens. Brad Hoylman and Jamaal Bailey introduced legislation last year to strictly limit the use of a defendant’s creative expression as evidence to a jury.

From personal experience, Bowman told Yahoo News that hip-hop helped inform his understanding of American society and the issues he tackles now in Washington.

“Because if it weren't for rappers, I wouldn't be here,” he said. “I wouldn't know knowledge itself. I wouldn't understand political democracy. I wouldn't know my history, my culture. I wouldn't understand white supremacy. Rappers have educated me my entire life. So I want them to keep educating, uplifting and inspiring.”