ATLANTA, United States – Prosecutors in Atlanta said Monday that rapper Young Thug was the “proclaimed leader” of a gang that moved “like a pack” to commit crimes as opening statements began in a long-delayed racketeering trial.

Controversies, particularly over the state’s submission of rap lyrics as evidence, and hiccups have dogged the sprawling trial over alleged criminal conspiracy since jury selection began in January.

The State of Georgia believes that Young Thug’s record label, YSL, is a front for a crime ring and argues that the defendants belong to a branch of the Bloods street gang known as Young Slime Life, or YSL .

“The evidence will show that YSL meets all the criteria for being a criminal street gang,” said Fulton County Prosecutor Adriane Love as she delivered the government’s statement, which she quoted from Rudyard Kipling’s “The Law of the Jungle.” ” started.

Love addressed the question of songwriting directly: “We didn’t chase the lyrics to solve the murder, we pursued the murder and found the lyrics.”

She read verses from the Young Thug song Put it on trialHe said the texts that prosecutors had identified bore “an uncanny resemblance to very true, very real and very specific events.”

Using the rapper’s official name, she said: “Jeffrey Williams’ words, which he promotes through songs with beats behind them – they are not random.”

Her presentation stalled several times, including because Love failed to disclose key parts of it to defense attorneys as required.

The error led to disputes among lawyers and further delays, drawing the ire of Judge Ural Glanville.

ARTIST OR A GANG?

Max Schardt began the initial defense statement late Monday on behalf of Shannon Stillwell. The defense has a six-hour deadline, one hour per defendant, and proceedings were scheduled to continue Tuesday.

The defense insists that YSL stands for Young Stoner Life Records, a hip-hop label that Young Thug founded in 2016 and which they say is a vague association of artists rather than a gang.

Young Thug, 32, was one of 28 alleged street gang members originally charged with racketeering in May 2022.

Six defendants face charges based on the original indictment and deny all allegations against them. Many of the other defendants have reached plea agreements or are being tried separately.

The allegations included myriad underlying crimes that prosecutors say support a larger conspiracy charge, including murder, assault, auto theft, drug trafficking and theft.

Wearing a white button-up shirt, a black tie and oval-shaped glasses, Young Thug sat quietly in the courtroom as the judge outlined the allegations against him and others to the jury.

Opening arguments didn’t get off to a smooth start either: One juror had a car problem, meaning the trial started nearly two hours late.

In attendance was Kevin Liles – the CEO of 300 Entertainment, under which Young Thug founded his label, who told journalists that rap was being persecuted.

“If this was country music, rock music,” he said, “we wouldn’t be here.”

“Punishment of Black Expression”

Liles was among advocates who criticized the state for citing song lyrics as an admission of criminal activity.

In a hearing on the motions in early November, Glanville gave prosecutors the green light to submit 17 song lyrics as evidence, provided they could link their content to real crimes.

Defense attorneys had sought to exclude song lyrics from evidence on the grounds that “rap is the only fictional art form treated in this way.”

Erik Nielson, a professor at the University of Richmond and a specialist in the field, told AFP in early 2023 that prosecuting rap lyrics “falls into a much longer tradition of punishing black expression.”

Nielson could not comment directly on the YSL case because he will be testifying as an expert witness.

The lengthy jury selection and Monday morning delays are part of a much longer road ahead: The trial is expected to last well into 2024.

Prosecutors have submitted a list of hundreds of potential witnesses. The defense list includes family members and fellow rappers TI and Killer Mike.

Monday’s opening arguments took place at the same Fulton County courthouse where former President Donald Trump himself is embroiled in a racketeering case over alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election.