Rap On Trial (with Andrea Dennis & Alex Spiro)

Hip hop artists are finding their rap lyrics and videos used against them in criminal court proceedings across the country. A group of celebrities and scholars led by Jay-Z signed a letter recently calling on New York lawmakers to pass the Senate Bill S7527, also known as the” Rap Music On Trial” bill, which seeks to make it more difficult for prosecutors to admit creative expressions into evidence. 

CAFE Executive Producer Tamara Sepper speaks with Andrea Dennis, co-author of the book, “Rap On Trial – Race, Lyrics, and Guilt in America,” and Alex Spiro, Jay-Z’s attorney who drafted the letter and represents many hip hop artists and other celebrity clients as a partner at the law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan.