Rap not on trial
Rap not on trial
- October 13, 2025
- Charis Kubrin, criminology, law and society and CPIP affiliate, UCI Social Ecology news, October 13, 2025
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When Drake sued his own record label over Kendrick Lamar's diss track “Not Like Us,” claiming rap lyrics should be treated as factual statements, UC Irvine scholars sounded the alarm. Charis Kubrin, criminology, law and society professor, and colleagues filed an amicus brief warning of a dangerous precedent: treating artistic expression as literal confession opens the door to racial bias in courtrooms. Their concerns were validated when a federal judge dismissed all counts in a sweeping 38-page opinion.
Read more at https://socialecology.uci.edu/news/rap-not-trial.
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