Editing Gangsta rap (section)

===First Amendment rights===
Gangsta rap has also raised questions of whether it is protected speech under the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution]], since lyrics may express violence and may be considered [[true threat]]s. The Supreme Court ruled in ''[[Elonis v. United States]]'' (2015) that ''[[mens rea]]'', the intent to commit a crime, is necessary to convict someone of a crime for using threatening words in a rap song.

In a notable case, rapper Jamal Knox, performing as "Mayhem Mal", wrote a gangsta rap song named "F*** the Police" shortly after he was arrested for gun and drug charges in Pittsburgh.<ref name=harvard132>{{cite journal |last1=Note |title=Recent Case: Pennsylvania Supreme Court Finds Rap Song a True Threat |journal=[[Harvard Law Review]] |date=2019 |volume=132 |page=1558 |url=https://harvardlawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/1558-1565_Online.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200302233407/https://harvardlawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/1558-1565_Online.pdf |archive-date=2020-03-02 |url-status=live}}</ref> The song's lyrics specifically named the two arresting officers, and included explicit violent threats including "Let's kill these cops cuz they don't do us no good". One of the officers, believing to be threatened, subsequently left the force.

Knox was convicted of making [[terroristic threat]]s and of [[witness intimidation]] in a bench trial, and the conviction was affirmed by the [[Supreme Court of Pennsylvania]], which held that the song's lyrics amounted to a true threat.<ref name=harvard132/><ref>{{cite court |litigants=Commonwealth v. Knox|vol=190|reporter=A.3d|opinion=1146|court=Pa.|date=2018|url= https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=16830461058030971078 }}</ref> Knox petitioned the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] to hear the case, and academics joined rappers Killer Mike, Chance the Rapper, Meek Mill, Yo Gotti, Fat Joe and 21 Savage in an ''[[amicus curiae]]'' brief arguing that Knox's song should be seen as a political statement and thus is protected speech.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Liptak |first1=Adam |author-link=Adam Liptak |title=Hip-Hop Artists Give the Supreme Court a Primer on Rap Music |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/06/us/politics/supreme-court-rap-music.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220102/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/06/us/politics/supreme-court-rap-music.html |archive-date=2022-01-02 |url-access=limited |url-status=live |access-date=2 March 2020 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=6 March 2019}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The Supreme Court declined review in April 2019.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/15/politics/supreme-court-jamal-knox-first-amendment/index.html | title = Supreme Court declines to take up First Amendment case brought by rap artist | first = Adrian | last = de Vogue | date = April 15, 2019 | access-date = April 15, 2019 | work = [[CNN]] | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190415162415/https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/15/politics/supreme-court-jamal-knox-first-amendment/index.html | archive-date = April 15, 2019 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/14/us/first-amendment-rappers-supreme-court-elonis/index.html | title = Hip-hop wants Supreme Court to rule, again, on when threatening to kill constitutes art | first = Eliott C. | last = McLaughlin | date = March 19, 2019 | access-date = April 15, 2019 | work = [[CNN]] | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190416003852/https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/14/us/first-amendment-rappers-supreme-court-elonis/index.html | archive-date = April 16, 2019 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Knox v. Pennsylvania |url=https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/knox-v-pennsylvania/ |website=[[SCOTUSblog]] |access-date=2 March 2020 |language=en}}</ref>