Giggs, the renowned UK rapper, has released a statement through Instagram urging his followers to support the Art Not Evidence campaign. The campaign aims to prevent courts from using creative and artistic expressions, including music videos and lyrics, as evidence in criminal trials. Giggs has a personal connection to the issue, as his own lyrics were cited during his firearm charge in 2012. In a recent video, the rapper expressed his belief that evidence in court should be “100% facts” and should not be based on lyrics or rap music.
According to The Guardian, the prosecution quoted lyrics from his tracks as evidence that he was involved in gun crime. However, the gun’s real owner pleaded guilty. Giggs spent seven months in prison before being found innocent in late 2012. This experience has influenced the rapper’s support for Art Not Evidence and the campaign’s open letter.
Giggs shares his passion about the issue, stating that rap music or art is not always fact. “You can’t prove something is 100% facts from listening to a song” he explains. Giggs goes on to say that his 2011 track, “Wolf,” is part of the reason he was sent to court in 2012. The rapper is not alone in his support for Art Not Evidence, as lawyers, academics, and other artists such as Annie Mac and Digga D have also endorsed the campaign.
The Art Not Evidence campaign, founded in 2022, aims to curb the prejudicial use of rap lyrics and music videos as evidence in UK courtrooms. Meanwhile, in the same year, the Crown Prosecution Service declared that drill music videos could serve as evidence of affiliation in court. However, the US aims to take a different approach, with a bill proposing to prohibit lyrics being used as criminal evidence reintroduced to congress
Read the full article from Mixmag here: Read More