On 
Monday, April 15, American Criminologist Charis Kubrin will be on campus to deliver a Jacobs School of Music Distinguished Lecture Series talk titled “Art or Confession? Rap Music as Evidence in Criminal Trials”. The talk will take place in The Grand Hall at the Cook Center for Public Arts & Humanities, located in Maxwell Hall.
Monday, April 15
3:00 p.m. | Grand Hall, Cook Center
Charis Kubrin (University of California, Irvine), “Art or Confession? Rap Music as Evidence in Criminal Trials“
Kubrin is co-author or co-editor of 6 books and has published dozens of journal articles, many of which focus on the intersection of music, culture, and social identity, particularly as it applies to hip-hop and youth of color in disadvantaged communities. She is a frequent media contributor whose writing has been featured in the The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Forbes, and CNN. She is co-author of two amicus briefs on rap music that were filed with the U.S. Supreme Court (Elonis v. U.S.; Bell v. Itawamba County School Board), co-author of a legal guide for attorneys involved in rap on trial cases, and has served as an expert witness and consultant in numerous criminal cases involving rap music as evidence of alleged underlying criminal activity. She also gave a TEDx talk, The Threatening Nature of…Rap Music?, on the use of rap lyrics as evidence in criminal trials. Along with Barbara Seymour Giordano, Charis received a Cicero Speechwriting Award for this talk in the category of “Controversial or Highly Politicized Topic.”
Abstract: Rap lyrics and videos are being introduced as evidence in courtrooms across the country with alarming regularity, a practice that puts “rap on trial.” Rather than treat rap as an art form whose primary purpose is to entertain, prosecutors are convincing judges and juries that the lyrics are either autobiographical confessions of illegal behavior or evidence of a defendant’s knowledge, motive or identity with respect to an alleged crime. Putting rap on trial has implications for how we define creative expression as well as for free speech and the right of all Americans to receive a fair trial. In this talk I offer examples of cases in which rap music has been used as evidence in trials against amateur rappers, almost all of whom are young men of color, in order to illustrate the ways that prosecutors present rap-related evidence as well as highlight the devastating effects it can have on defendants. I also discuss elements of rap music that make it vulnerable to judicial abuse, present experimental research that examines how rap lyrics impact decision-making in the courtroom, and review key points from my co-authored Rap on Trial Legal Guide, a resource for attorneys. Finally, I discuss recent legislation that mitigates this practice and identify additional next steps, both in research and in practice, needed to challenge rap on trial.
This event is co-sponsored by the Jacobs School of Music Lecture Committee and the IU Departments of Music Theory, Sociology, and Criminal Justice.
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