While all of hip hop prizes authenticity, as Van Lathan put it in Filthy Slime Pt 1: “In street rap authenticity is more important than skill”. Today we dive into the ways that this genre’s prizing of authenticity has evolved to a point where some rappers aren’t just merely making artful commentary or provocations about gang life, but are using their lyrics to document and at times admit their involvement in serious crimes, including murder.

Here in the second installment of our deep dive into rap on trial, our guests Van Lathan and producer 4-IZE help us examine this cultural debate in the larger context of an evolution happening right now in rap music. We look at the role played by everything from social media to record labels, and try to grapple with what this means not only for Young Thug’s RICO case but for the future of artists living in high crime neighborhoods.

Special thanks to Prince Paul, Jason Kramer, Bill Donahoe, Kmele Foster, 4-IZE, Megan Phelps-Roper, and Van Lathan.

Music in this episode from Cobey Bienart and Peter Lalish

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Other links:

Van Lathan’s Higher Learning Podcast

Spotify Playlist of Songs in this episode

Check out 4-IZE's Music