A still from the video for Jamal Knox’s (a.k.a. ‘Mayhem Mal’) first single since being incarcerated, ‘MayDay 3/11’; Photo: YouTube
After five years a Pennsylvania court will finally determine whether a Pittsburgh rapper by the name of Jamal Knox (a.k.a. Mayhem Mal of the Ghetto Superstar Committee) will be protected under the First Amendment (freedom of speech) or guilty of threatening to harm police officers, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Knox was arrested in 2012 after a police officer found a video on Youtube where Knox made numerous threats to officers of the law. Lyrics include:
They bring us no peace
That’s why I keep my heat
When I’m roaming through the streets
And,
Let’s kill these cops ‘cause they don’t do us no good
Pulling your Glock, oh cause I live in the hood
Knox (along with Rashee Beasley) were arrested and charged with making terrorist threats and intimidation of witnesses. In the video “Fuck the Police” Knox calls out two officers by name, and cites Richard Poplawski who is currently on death row for the murder of three police officers. Knox raps:
This first verse is for Officer Zeltner
And all you FED force bitches
And Mr. Kosko can suck my dick for knocking my riches
Knox told the judge that he didn’t intend for the video to be released, and that he has made songs promoting peace and non-violence. According to CBS Pittsburgh, Knox’s lawyer Al Burke is claiming that he was only trying to portray what was happening in his neighborhood. “He had no intention of making this song, in the format that it was, in public,” said Burke. “He had no intentions of bringing harm to the police, but certainly the lyrics reflect his attention to things that have happened in the community.”
The case is one in many that argue whether or not song lyrics can be used to bring up criminal charges. For some it is a justifiable threat that demands action, but for others it sets a dangerous precedent that critics claim will deliver a critical blow to the First Amendment — i.e. the folks over at Legal Means who built a campaign in 2014 using Knox’s case as a platform.
While the world waits for the final say, it’s important to understand the ramifications of such a verdict. For years, other songwriters have made violent references in their lyrics and haven’t heard so much as a peep from the law. But now that rap has become one of the most influential genres in the world, the law has made a fuss, questioning its artistic merit.
To say that there aren’t racial undertones would be ignorant, but whether you’re a fan of rap or not, condemning musicians for lyrics would bring us ever closer to Orwell’s dystopian future.
Listen to Knox’s controversial song below, followed by Knox’s first single since being incarcerated, ‘MayDay 3/11’, in which the young talent raps about his best friend Leon Ford who was shot and paralyzed by the Pittsburgh police: