The American rap artist B.G, must have all new songs approved by the US government as a condition of his parole
American rapper B.G. (short for Baby Gangsta) has been ordered by the US government to submit his songs for review before their release as a condition of his parole.
US district court judge Susie Morgan issued the ruling as a compromise with prosecutors’ request to prohibit the New Orlean’s rapper from “promoting and glorifying future gun violence and murder”, a source told The Guardian.
The rapper must provide the government with copies of any songs written moving forward before their production and promotion. If the songs are deemed to be inconsistent with his goals of rehabilitation, prosecutors could move to toughen the terms dictating his supervised release.
But how did we get here?
B.G. was released last on parole last September, after having completed a 14 year prison sentence in July of 2012. This was after the rapper pleaded guilty for the illegal possession of a gun in relation to a traffic stop in 2009.
The artist was then arrested in March for parole violations after performing in Las Vegas alongside Boosie, and later releasing a mixtape with Gucci Mane, Choppers & Bricks. Prosecutors claim this constituted associating with known felons, and censured his lyrics on the tape.
The rapper has received plenty of support online and from within the industry, though, with some of the biggest names in music condemning the use of rap lyrics as evidence in US criminal courts.
Artists like Megan Thee Stallion, Jay-Z, Coldplay and Christina Aguilera have been consistently vocal about how the issue disproportionately targets Black artists.
Listen to the latest release from B.G. below.