Kay Flock might spend the remainder of his life behind bars if federal prosecutors get their approach, arguing that the Bronx drill rapper’s lyrics function a confession to homicide and gang exercise.
Authorities attorneys submitted court docket filings aiming to introduce Kay Flock’s music movies and lyrics as proof in his upcoming trial.
The 21-year-old rapper, whose actual identify is Kevin Perez, faces federal RICO expenses, together with racketeering conspiracy and homicide in help of racketeering, after prosecutors linked him to the Bronx-based Sev Aspect/DOA gang.
Authorities allege he performed a central function in a December 2021 taking pictures that left Hwascar “OY Wasca” Hernandez lifeless, and so they insist his drill rap lyrics aren’t simply artwork however boast of real-life crimes.
“The restricted variety of rap movies the Authorities seeks to confess immediately relate to the charged racketeering enterprise and to particular crimes or predicate acts charged within the Indictment—certainly, in these movies, Perez describes his involvement in particular acts of violence,” defined Appearing United States Legal professional, Matthew Podolsky.
Kay Flock’s protection workforce argues that utilizing rap lyrics as felony proof is a harmful precedent—one they are saying unfairly targets Hip-Hop artists, notably Black and Latino rappers.
His legal professionals insist that drill music, with its gritty storytelling, typically blurs the road between actuality and creative exaggeration.
His songs, they are saying, are not any completely different than violent movies or crime novels, by no means meant to be taken as autobiographical.
Prosecutors, nevertheless, declare that within the drill rap world, rappers improve their road credibility by recounting precise acts of violence, sparking a cycle of retaliation.
“Committing a taking pictures makes a subsequent rap track about that very taking pictures extra ‘genuine,’ and thereby raises the standing of the rapper,” Podolsky added. “The boasting feeds a cycle of back-and-forth violence.”
Authorities say music movies posted on YouTube and social media present Kay Flock flashing gang hand indicators, taunting rivals, and describing shootings tied to his alleged gang’s operations.
One video specifically, “Who Actually Bugging,” is cited as proof, with lyrics prosecutors declare immediately reference a taking pictures carried out alongside fellow gang members.
Kay Flock was first arrested in December 2021 on a first-degree homicide cost linked to the deadly taking pictures of Hernandez. His lawyer maintains the incident was an act of self-defense.
The costs in opposition to him escalated on February 23, 2023, when he was federally indicted together with seven different alleged gang members, accused of collaborating in at the least seven Bronx shootings from June 2020 to February 2022.
If convicted, Kay Flock faces a compulsory life sentence. His case joins a rising authorized battle over whether or not rap lyrics needs to be admissible in court docket.
Advocacy teams argue that prosecutors steadily weaponize Hip-Hop lyrics in opposition to artists whereas disregarding the fictional nature of the style.
Authorized consultants additionally level out that different inventive industries—like movie, literature, and tv—are not often scrutinized in the identical approach.