{"id":2120919,"date":"2026-08-31T20:45:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T17:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2120919"},"modified":"2026-08-31T20:45:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T17:45:00","slug":"bankroll-freddies-rap-lyrics-were-fair-game-at-drug-and-gun-trial-court-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2120919","title":{"rendered":"Bankroll Freddie\u2019s Rap Lyrics Were Fair Game at Drug and Gun Trial, Court Says"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1189457184-e1788208257137.jpg?w=1024″]<\/p>\n

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\n\tAn appeals court has ruled that Bankroll Freddie\u2019s rap lyrics were relevant evidence at his drug trafficking and gun possession trial.<\/p>\n

\n\tA Friday (Aug. 28) ruling from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirms Bankroll Freddie\u2019s 12-and-a-half-year prison sentence for four criminal counts. The Arkansas rapper (born Freddie Gladney III) was convicted in 2024 based on wiretapped phone calls and evidence from a traffic stop \u2014 plus, several clips of his rap repertoire.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tRap On Trial: The Long Battle to Keep Hip-Hop Lyrics Out of\u00a0Court\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

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    Bill Donahue<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n
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    \n\tThis included lyrics from \u201cThe Last Real Trap Rapper\u201d off Gladney\u2019s 2021 album Big Bank<\/em>, a joint Quality Control Music\/Motown Records release, in which he rapped \u201c448 that\u2019s a pound, 2,500 come and get it now, 224 that\u2019s a half a bow.\u201d The jury also heard Gladney rap, \u201cI got something hot if he think he a bully, switch on the Glock change this b\u2014h to a fully\u201d on his 2020 Ed Dolo collab \u201cHot.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \n\tGladney\u2019s attorneys argued that these lyrics were not autobiographical, but rather showed him adopting an \u201cartist persona\u201d to make it in the trap rap scene. But in Friday\u2019s ruling, obtained by Billboard<\/em>, three appellate judges unanimously ruled that the lyrics were \u201cprobative to show Gladney\u2019s knowledge of terminology that was alleged to be associated with the sale of marijuana.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \n\t\u201cWe recognize that some lyrics, rap included, may be prejudicial \u2014 sometimes unfairly so,\u201d wrote Judge Jane Kelly in the decision. \u201cBut here, the lyrics introduced into evidence were limited to specific lyrics that included words relevant to the charged offenses. No full songs were introduced, and Gladney points to no irrelevant or inflammatory lyrics that were included in the clips.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \n\tA lawyer for Gladney, Bobby R. Digby II<\/strong>, told Billboard <\/em>on Monday (Aug. 31) that he is already in the process of drafting a petition for further appellate review. He declined to comment further on the decision.<\/p>\n

    \n\tThe use of rap lyrics as evidence in criminal trials is controversial. Critics say it threatens artistic expression and injects racial bias into legal proceedings, and several states have banned or limited this practice for local prosecutions.<\/p>\n

    \n\tBut rap lyrics are still fair game in federal prosecutions such as Gladney\u2019s. Right now, fellow rapper Lil Durk is also having his lyrics used against him as evidence in an ongoing federal murder-for-hire trial. Legislators have repeatedly introduced a congressional bill that would ban this \u2014 the RAP Act \u2014 but it has long been stalled on Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/pro\/bankroll-freddie-rap-lyrics-drug-gun-trial\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1189457184-e1788208257137.jpg?w=1024″] Trending on Billboard An appeals court has ruled that Bankroll Freddie\u2019s rap lyrics were relevant evidence at his drug trafficking and gun possession trial. A Friday (Aug. 28) ruling from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirms Bankroll Freddie\u2019s 12-and-a-half-year prison sentence for four criminal counts. The Arkansas rapper (born Freddie Gladney […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2120919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2120919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2120919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2120919\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2120919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2120919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2120919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}