Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Hugh McIntyre covers music, with a focus on the global charts. Hip-hop is bigger than ever, as it’s the most-consumed genre of ...

Can a criminal defendant's own rap lyrics serve as evidence against him in court? It appears they can be, and the music industry is crying foul. As reported in yesterday's Wall Street Journal, ...

Young Thug performs onstage at the 2022 SXSW Conference on March 17, 2022, in Austin, Tex. (Amy E. Price / Getty Images for SXSW) By signing up, you confirm that you are over the age of 16 and agree ...

No one believes that country music legend Johnny Cash shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die. When Cash in 1968 released “Folsom Prison Blues,” a ballad about shooting and killing a man for no ...

Rap is a lyrical expression of social, cultural, and political issues in present society. Unsurprisingly, rap music is the most popular genre of music and features predominantly Black artists ...

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the Decriminalizing Artistic Expression Act into law on Friday. The bill will limit the use of lyrics as evidence in legal proceedings. Advocates of the bill say using lyrics ...

Music is the universal love language, but beyond that, it has the power to inspire. Hip Hop has provided a space for emcees to have an outlet, escape harsh realities and also act as a vehicle for ...

On Thursday, the forensic financial research firm Hindenburg Research released a report accusing Jack Dorsey’s Block, formerly Square, of operating as a digital hub for fraud. The two-year ...

Hip-hop, a genre born from the struggles and realities of inner-city communities, has long been a powerful platform for social commentary. Its raw lyricism, often depicting violence, drug dealing, and ...

Gary Bryant Jr. exchanged gunfire with a man in an Antioch apartment parking lot on a July afternoon in 2014. Both were struck by bullets. Bryant survived and the other man died. Police said it was ...

The trial of Grammy Award-winning rapper Young Thug, real name Jeffery Lamar Williams, began on Monday in Atlanta, Ga. The trial is expected to take months and will be pivotal in shaping how the ...

As the high-profile criminal trial of rapper Young Thug began this week, Black rappers who have had their lyrics used against them by prosecutors as evidence of criminal activity have renewed calls to ...