In bizarre ruling, rapper B.G. must have all future songs approved by the government

In a bizarre data point for the growing movement to keep rap lyrics out of the courtroom, Hot Boys rapper Christopher “B.G.” Dorsey was recently ordered to provide the government with a copy of any song he writes moving forward, ahead of its release or promotion. The artist is currently on supervised release from prison for a 14-year, gun-related sentence he received in 2012. Now, according to a federal judge, the government has the right to determine if his future work is “inconsistent with his goals of rehabilitation,” and if so, move to toughen the terms of his release, as reported by The Guardian.

The ruling was somewhat mixed. The judge, Susie Morgan, did refuse prosecutors’ requests to prohibit B.G. from “promoting and glorifying future gun violence/murder” in his songs and concerts entirely, saying the restriction could violate his constitutional right to free speech.

Best known for his 1999 hit, “Bling Bling,” B.G. is a part of the New Orleans-based Hot Boys group, which also includes Lil Wayne, Juvenile, and Turk. While that group hasn’t been active since B.G.’s arrest, Juvenile confirmed on Instagram that a reunion was in the works this past May.

Dorsey also came under federal scrutiny after he performed in a Las Vegas concert earlier this year with Boosie and Gucci Mane (with whom B.G. released an album in 2023), both of whom have prior felony convictions of their own. According to officials, people on supervised release are required to “refrain from … associating unnecessarily with” people with felony convictions, which led to B.G.’s arrest in March. The rapper’s attorneys were able to successfully prove that he had been given the necessary permission from his supervisors and he was freed from custody, but arguments from that incident led to the ruling this week.

Over the past few years, the movement against using rap lyrics as official evidence has been picking up speed. A documentary about the issue called As We Speak: Rap Music on Trial was released earlier this year on Paramount+, and, in 2022, multiple major artists including Megan Thee Stallion, Coldplay, Future, 2 Chainz, Christina Aguilera, John Legend signed a petition against the “racially targeted” practice.

“In courtrooms across America, the trend of prosecutors using artists’ creative expression against them is happening with troubling frequency,” that petition read, per The Guardian. “Rappers are storytellers, creating entire worlds populated with complex characters who can play both hero and villain. But more than any other art form, rap lyrics are essentially being used as confessions in an attempt to criminalise Black creativity and artistry.”

You can watch the trailer for As We Speak below: