Art is not life

This column was published in Lake Champlain Weekly in January 2023, as commentary on the trial of Jefferey Lamar Williams.

Performers perform.

This should be obvious. Artists present a performance to the world as entertainment. Writers produce novels, scripts, or poetry. They may or may not be autobiographical. Actors sometimes portray characters with very similar personalities to their own and sometimes characters who are very different. In almost all artistic media, this is obvious to everyone.

Kenneth Branagh portrayed Henry V, but no one thinks that, in real life, he led an army against the French or has anything against French people in general. Daniel Radcliffe is not a wizard. Anthony Hopkins is not a serial killer.

Writers are no different from actors. Just as Daniel Radcliffe is not a wizard, nor is J K Rowling. Poets and songwriters have written about love, drugs, and violence. No doubt most of them have experienced love and some have also been involved with drugs and violence.

Hip hop artists as a group probably include some people who are sexist, violent, and drug-obsessed and other people who are none of these things, but portray characters in their art who are. This is very much the nature of art and performance.

So should the lyrics of Jefferey Lamar Williams, professionally known as “Young Thug” be allowed as evidence in his racketeering trial?

It seems to Common Sense that this is a very dubious call, and one that should not even be necessary. Benedict Cumberbatch, Al Pacino and Ian McKellan have all played Richard III. This would never be presented in court as evidence that they are child-murderers. No judge would have to rule this prejudicial. No defense counsel would ever object to it. Any prosecutor who even tried to make the argument would be the butt of jokes for all time. A defense attorney would sit back and watch the fun, ridiculing the prosecution case as plainly absurd.

So why are song lyrics different? Is it, as some claim, specific to hip-hop and an example of racism? That’s possible, but it seems more likely that the prosecutor is simply hoping White jurors will be unfamiliar with hip-hop and may not see “Young Thug” as simply a character that Williams is portraying. Singers, after all, often use their real names and sing about things they are genuinely passionate about. It is not as obviously ridiculous as it is with an actor.

Were I the defense attorney, I would be tempted to call Ice-T as an expert witness. He was a seminal influence in the early days of rap, and could easily be qualified as an expert. He sang a song about being a cop killer. But to people unfamiliar with hip-hop he is better known for portraying a cop as an actor. He has been playing Detective, and now Sergeant, Fin Tutuola in 23 of the 24 seasons of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. His testimony would certainly help establish that singers are performers, just as actors are, and their performances do not necessarily reflect the real life and real passions of the performer.

Williams should be tried according to evidence that is relevant to the case. The lyrics should either be disallowed as evidence or rejected by the jury.

Quentin Langley lives in New York and teaches at Fordham University and Manhattan College. His book, Business and the Culture of Ethics was published in September 2020.