State of GA Gives YSL the RICO – Young Thug Facing 20 to Life

I’m surprised that they are the first crew out of these record labels. I mean, we have rappers and attorneys who have been fighting to not use lyrics in court, but if the DA and the State have enough evidence to present to a grand jury, they are coming for your high profile ass. I guess their logic is if you’re rapping about shooting people, you probably have (or plan on). But what do I know? Maybe don’t conspire to deal drugs at a Fortune 500 level and kill rival drug dealers and gang members while you are in the public eye maybe? Easy to assume but some of these charges are dating back to 2015 before Young Thug and Gunna really broke out onto the scene as A-List Hip/Hop artists. 

You’ll laugh at this one…we have all the “legal analysts” on Twitter who are bitching about RICO saying it’s racist. Some of the charges on this RICO are for MURDER…. People were MURDERED….. but it’s racist cause their favorite rappers are involved. Give me a break. The DA who charged YSL and called them “violent criminals” is Fani Willis, a black woman. Hysterical the takes you see when most of the people did not even Google what RICO was before they put their two-cents in.

Who in YSL will drop the hardcore act and rat on half of them while looking to be out in no time? People on Twitter are saying Gunna is being dragged in cause there’s a quote he wore a YSL chain and rapped about his shooters, but It’s an 88 page indictment, you don’t think there’s more evidence in there?!?!?! I know their beats slap but use your brain a little! Don’t get in your feelings without knowing anything. At this point we are seeing HBO’s next hit series play out and unfold.

RICO was created because it was the only effective way to pursue organized crime (Gangs, Mafia, etc.); it’s very difficult to pin crimes on members of a gang unless they are caught red handed. But the basis of RICO is to gather enough evidence to prove that there is an organizational structure for organized illegal activities. Then they use that evidence to bring forth those involved, forcing them to talk, where most of them rat and then they convict those who actually did the crimes. 

Rappers use gangs or organized crime in some instances for protection, YSL is based in Georgia so while the rappers are often not the ones out there committing the crimes, they rep the gang or label and give kickbacks to the gang or label in exchange for protection. This holds them liable for the actions taken by the gang in any crime they commit to further the success of the gang. It’s all based on actions that individuals made in according to interests of the gang. As long as the actions furthered the gangs status, notoriety, or economic power, they can be held accountable for all actions of the gang. Example: dealing crack while under the protection of a gang, giving kickbacks to the gang… then the gang turns around and uses those funds for other, sometimes more serious crimes.

It’s also the only way to take down those higher up in the gangs/mobs that hold too high of a status to commit crimes any longer, leaving them free from any accountability. Hence why RICO was used to take down so many mob families to the point where they are either non-existent now or forced to live in the shadows committing white collar crime.

RICO is appropriate when used correctly, the DA even said they made sure not to overstep their boundaries, they only indicted those they were 100% they had grounds on to do so, leaving many still untouched, but for the sake of their own legitimacy. It is interesting to see if the Federal Government somehow sticks their nose in this case as they do for everything else. I guess that also depends on the crimes committed and who was involved? It’s not hard to see YSL’s network includes other famous rappers such as Drake, Future, Lil Baby, and many others. We can only wait to see how this all unfolds, if any of them will be released on bond and/or they can win in trial. Stay tuned, this will get spicy. 

PS: If you want to know more what transpired or the difference between State v. Federal RICO cases these two threads were pretty solid.