Music | August 03, 2009 | Comment on this video (60)

Does rapper deserve 2 years in jail over rap lyrics?

twoon
This is my thoughts and feelings on the case of 20 year old Antavio Johnson.
  1. groups:
    Community,   Entertainment,   Music,   Max and Jason: Still Up
  2. tags:
    Music,  Rap,  Police,  Florida,  8 more
  3.     
    |
    Embed video:
    |

60 comments // Does rapper deserve 2 years in jail over rap lyrics? // Video

  • Kevin_Bland
    • 0
      Kevin_Bland  

    • Wow. So just to start off, learn your material first. If he went to jail because of the song, there had to be other reasons behind it. There have been many songs about killing cops. And yes it was smart that he made the song. Just off of this he is getting the publicity he needs to make money. Songs about murder, drugs, sex, ect. is what sales. Do I think it was wise mentioning names? No. Was it wise to bring up the deceased officer? Extremely. In this case any publicity is good publicity. I sure he pissed a lot of people off with it. Which got word out. lol. It's crazy how that works. Also, please get people's names right. The rapper that you had on your vid was Ice T., not Ice Cube. Ice Cube ended up on Friday, not Law and Order. Look, I know it was a BS thing to do to the guy, but it got some drugs off the street, not much but it's a start. I wise person once told me that my rights end where theirs began. If we let everyone say whatever they wanted, there would be a lot more hate in the world. That's why there's gangs. One person hates and talks others into hating too. The American people are stupid and eat that crap up. Do we really want another Hitler, Osama, or Obama?

    • 2 years ago
  • St_Alia_10191
    • 0
      St_Alia_10191  

    • It seems there are two issues on the board here. It's clear to me now that Johnson was arrested for violating parole and general douchery. Then there's the added layer of the rap. So, jail him for the violation, not the music.

      And good call on the Glenn Beck, he's the guy yelling "Fire!" in the theater and causing a stampede.

      I think so many people are (rightly) getting their ire up about the Free Speech aspect because we all know that there are times, too many times, when this right is infringed. I knew a guy in high school who was expelled for recording a crappy rap album and distributing it at school because it contained lyrics about killing a certain girl. We were all shocked and dismayed that the school could be so unfair. After all, it was just a song that nobody was going to listen to. (He was truly a terrible rapper.)

    • 2 years ago
  • amanda_g
  • larrysnotes
  • mstarr67
    • 0
      mstarr67  

    • 1st amendment, sounds familiar. The problem is that the cops don't give a piss about the "Bill of RIGHTS"

      Although, I do think all rappers should serve two years because they are rappers and make the rest of the world suffer mental anguish over someone talking over a computer generated sound, play an instrument or sing, if you can't do either go on a reality show or go away. Or just "perform" for your mom in the basement. Talking "rapping" is not an art, it's talking.

    • 2 years ago
  • Micaleth
    • 0
      Micaleth  

    • THIS IS THE BOTTOM LINE.

      Should this rapper had been investigated, arrested and questioned?

      Absolutely!!!

      Should he be sent to prison for it?

      NO WAY!!!

      If you think he should be then you should live by the same standard and be willing to forfeit your rights to free speech TODAY.

      The only issue then is who determines what speech is legal and what is illegal.

      You open a gateway that could limit all free expression as we know it.

      Whats next, Thought Crimes???

      Those who are willing to sacrifice liberty for security DESERVE neither liberty nor security.

    • 2 years ago
  • Tyrannous
  • onemalefla
  • Micaleth
    • 0
      Micaleth  
    • onemalefla:

      Grrrrrr.

      You just had to go there didn't ya.

      Thats a whole different ball game.

      I absolutely despise that man personally.

      I would not have an issue with the guy if he didn't spew his garbage over a "major news network" to millions of idiot minds who mistake opinion for fact.

      Still, as much as I hate the guy I have to say he should be able to say whatever dumb things he wants.

      I just wish it wasn't being pushed by a "news" network.

      We need to demand a separation of fact and opinion in the media.

    • 2 years ago
  • Polymathlete
    • 0
      Polymathlete  

    • this next track is dedicated to some personal friends of mine, the L.A.P.D
      For every cop that's ever take an advantage off somebody
      beat him down or hurt him, because they got long hair
      listen to the wrong kind of music, bronde color
      whatever they thought was the reason to do it
      for every one of those fuckin' police
      I'd like to take a pig out here in this parking lot
      and shoot them in their motherfuckin' face

      Ice-T

    • 2 years ago
  • SoSoftly
    • 0
      SoSoftly  

    • Oh my, people are so incredibly stupid.

      FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS DON'T ALLOW YOU TO SAY WHATEVER THE F@#K YOU WANT!

      There ARE definite restrictions, such as fighting words, threats, hate speech, libel, etc.

      This rapper was a fool, and with his past convictions he should have known that his rope was thin and taught and offered no slack for this.

      I'm not even going to get into the "artistic" abuse of his medium...

    • 2 years ago
  • clitav
    • 0
      clitav  

    • I think it is interesting here that the defendant is BLACK and LOST, while multiple White Pride, Nazi Headed Hate Mongers hide, quite successfully, behind Free Speech with their TERRORIST death threats and what not all the time!

    • 2 years ago
  • J_Jammer
  • J_Jammer
  • J_Jammer
  • wmorrison13
  • yakamoo
  • J_Jammer
  • Micaleth
  • J_Jammer
  • Micaleth
    • 0
      Micaleth  

    • I disapprove of what he says, but I will defend to the death his right to say it.

      Sticks and stones people....

      So what if he was on probation for a prior cocaine possession charge in 2007.

      Since that time in 2007 he has obviously kept out of trouble and been able to pass monthly random drug testing from his probation officer or else he would have be imprisoned at that time for probation violation.

      Am I to understand that unpopular speech is now a crime worthy of a 2 year prison stay?

      Is unpopular speech a violation of probation?

      Mark my word, this man will be released and then he will hire a Civil Liberties attorney.

      YOU Florida taxpayers better stand up and demand that he be released RIGHT NOW.

      Otherwise its YOU Florida taxpayers that are gonna pay his lawsuit settlement.

      I would hate to see the taxpayer once again have to pay for the mistakes of their elected officials.

      The prosecuting attorney and all those responsible for filing these charges should be held professionally and financially responsible for this.

      If this is to go unchecked in the future we may be witness to a new era of enforcement.

      One where judges sentence minor drug offenders to not only probation but a gag as well.

    • 2 years ago
  • J_Jammer
    • 0
      J_Jammer [removed]  
    • Micaleth:

      turning this into a civil rights case is as weak as the Professor's complaining about his rights.

      And sticks and stones is a lie.Pen is mightier than the sword if far more apt and more true than stick and stones ever word.

      If sticks and stones were true...this site wouldn't exist.

    • 2 years ago
  • Micaleth
    • 0
      Micaleth  
    • Micaleth:

      I could care less what race he is.
      Why would you even mention the professors case.

      Were this "rappers" civil rights violated?
      Who knows.

      That is not the issue at hand though.

      Were his CIVIL LIBERTIES violated, YES.

      See where I am going?

      The only thing words can hurt is the EGO.

      Sticks and stone can break your bones, but words can't physically hurt you.

      When you say the pen is mightier than the sword YOU ARE AGREEING with me.

      The pen is only mightier because it can assault the ego of man, while the sword can only draw blood.

    • 2 years ago
  • bishopobispo
    • 0
      bishopobispo  
    • Micaleth:

      First of all, let me take a moment to set myself apart from JJ. I started reading his posts over a year ago when I first joined Current and I still can't disagree more on where he comes from (JJ, you know this).

      With that in mind let me continue.

      His 'Sticks and Stones' as you put it still were intended to incite another group (as you may have read in the posts and responses above) to carry out acts of violence.

      With this rapper having done that , be it toward good cops or bad, he is still in the wrong for not communicating his dislike of the police in a more responsible manner... You know, one that doesn't involve the lyrics, 'Im'ma kill a police.'

      And yet again, this guy gave no more than zero shits about any good cop who performed their job responsibly or the right to his free speech. He just wanted to make a dollar and he got locked up.

      I don't feel bad for him.

      Unlike you, Micaleth, I dig free speech yet I won't waste my time defending people who try to brandish hate speech as that which is defended by the First Amendment.

    • 2 years ago
  • J_Jammer
    • 0
      J_Jammer [removed]  
    • Micaleth:

      I do know that.

      ---------------------

      If words don't hurt then there would be no problem with abusing people via words...there would be no such thing as verbal abuse and those that said that was happening against children would be laughed out of court.

      The hardest scars to heal are the mental ones. Physical scars heal quicker. The mental scars last....which is why his lyrics were created and rapped....his scars run deep for whatever reason he wrote them. If it was just a case of sticks and stones those lyrics would have never been written...and yet they were.

    • 2 years ago
  • Micaleth
  • bishopobispo
    • 0
      bishopobispo  
    • Micaleth:

      @Micaleth

      Arrested? No.

      Even if I believed he should be that would never happen in America. For this reverend is 'only' preaching to his already predispositioned flock and his imprisonment would cause Conservatives far too many votes in the upcoming election cycles.

      But my qualms with the leaders of mega churches are an entirely different issue...

      Let's get back on subject here.

      The rapper?

    • 2 years ago
  • J_Jammer
    • 0
      J_Jammer [removed]  

    • Gates is an idiot and what he did was not just stupid but asinine. He isn't so smart and shouldn't be a professor if he didn't realize what his actions would cause. Don't provoke someone in hopes of getting a response and then being mad that you got that response. I don't feel sorry for Gates. He wanted it, got it, then victimized himself.

      The charges were dropped because it was the right PR move not because there was nothing to go on.

      As for this next idiot...he should be ridiculed for being poor at his job. Music should be inspiring not insulting and definitely not used to incite hate.

      Jail time? Nope. He doesn't deserve that.

    • 2 years ago
  • sidedish
  • Tyrannous
  • Tyrannous
    • 0
      Tyrannous  

    • If you are potentiating hate, you have the chance of being investigated. If you are making direct threats, those threats may be addressed. You can certainly get in trouble in certain manners of speech. If i came up to you and sang you a song to the tune of "mary had a little lamb", about killing/destroying you would you be less threatened than if i plainly made my statement? People get in trouble all the time for hate speech, at rallies and online protest, why is this any different. I don't know all the logistics of the case.. but i would assume if they believe you have the ability to follow through on your threats then you have a problem on your hands.

      Im all for making a point and publicizing an issue...just be rational and realistic.

    • 2 years ago
  • bishopobispo
    • 0
      bishopobispo  
    • Tyrannous:

      @Tyrannous

      Much agreed.

      But, let's not forget, if one is directly inciting others to follow through on their words it counts all the same.

      Now I know people can interpret just about anything in any fashion. If a group of people were to read Green Eggs and Ham and was somehow inspired by the words within this children's book to wage a guerrilla war against Texas, I wouldn't say we should dig up the corpse of Dr. Seuss and make it stand trial.

      Well, a ridiculous comparison I know but I'm just saying that even material that wasn't intended to offend or incite can drive some to do crazy things.

      But this matter is totally different.

      It WAS intended to offend and incite. The song is clear and direct with its purpose wholly known.

      It was some guy talking about his hatred for cops and it celebrated the death of an officer. The song said he would (and encouraged others to) kill a cop.

      Over the line dude, over the line. This wasn't free speech, this was making a threat against someone's life.

      Please friends, stop using the constitution as an umbrella to protect those who didn't give a shit about it in the first place.

    • 2 years ago
  • Micaleth
    • 0
      Micaleth  
    • Tyrannous:

      Why then is it then that when a woman who has several cases on record being the victim of domestic abuse calls the police claiming her estranged husband told her he was gonna gut her like a fish the police can do NOTHING until an actual crime has been committed?

      People make death threats to President Obama in their local classified ad section of the newspaper every week and they can not be charged.

      Investigated and questioned, YES.
      2 years in jail, NO.

      I do not agree with what this "rapper" said in song.

      He did however say it in song though, which makes it double wrong to prosecute and convict him.

      We do not attack speech!!!!
      We do not attack art!!!

      No matter how repulsive it may be we are DUTY BOUND to defend the rights of others to express themselves via speech and art.

    • 2 years ago
  • Tyrannous
    • 0
      Tyrannous  
    • Tyrannous:

      Micaleth claims and hearsay, which will not hold up, if the man goes to the cops and says he will kill this lady and is trying to contract people to kill her, he will be in jail.

    • 2 years ago
  • Paratus
  • heimbachae
  • Kaotik
  • LegendaryHater
  • heimbachae
    • 0
      heimbachae  
    • heimbachae:

      dude, rappers today are dumb. now there are MUSICIANS that i would consider their art rapesqe but it's not rap. jurassic 5, lupe fiasco, kanye west (to an extent) are labeled as "rap" but i wouldn't consider them rap. i'd say more new age hip hop. 50 cent, the game, icp... those are the rappers i'm talking about, and they all need to go away ASAP.

    • 2 years ago
  • Meaghan1126
  • Kaotik
    • 0
      Kaotik  
    • heimbachae:

      well, ICP is considered Horrorcore which is a different form of rap all together.... The Game and 50 falls under Gangsta Rap which focuses on gang life / street life (inner-city youth)... yeah, some rappers / hip hop artist are dumb... Soulja Boy for example with his fruity loop beats
      jurassic 5 would fall under Alternative rap... but who's to say that rappers lack musicality... not trying to diss or start anything but just remember this... the hip hop / rap culture don't diss other music genre.. but everyone else loves to diss rap / hip hop

    • 2 years ago
  • heimbachae
    • 0
      heimbachae  
    • heimbachae:

      "the hip hop / rap culture don't diss other music genre" okay i'm going to just take my magic hat a pull a name out of it and see what i think about the comment (reaches in and pulls out a card with the name of...) Eminem!! okay, discuss.

      and yea, i'm more of an alternative rap kinda guy, much like i'm alternative in my lifestyle, much like i hate most country music, much like i hate much of pop punk that comes out today. there is plenty of crappy music in every genre. too bad the 'mainstream' rap gives all rap a bad name (specially to the elders)

    • 2 years ago
  • Kaotik
    • 0
      Kaotik  
    • heimbachae:

      Em attacked those that had something to say about him.... and yeah, some do give rap bad names... the majority of music I listen to is "gangsta rap," because that's me... but that's a different story... but I do listen to other music as well... how many Asians do you see jamming to Country Music... well, let me be the first ha..

    • 2 years ago
  • Kaotik
    • 0
      Kaotik  

    • I can't make a judgment unless I hear the song myself... but hey... "fuck da police, fuck da police, fuck 'em"

      the majority of the pigs out there are a bunch of corrupted piece of shit anyways...

    • 2 years ago
  • Polymathlete
    • 0
      Polymathlete  

    • Sure, we can all have opinions on the subject.

      Was what he did a crime?
      Death threats have been included in the lyrics of many songs, some well known.
      A cops life can't be held in higher esteem than anyone elses.

      This case is bullshit.

    • 2 years ago
  • twoon
  • twoon
    • 0
      twoon  

    • Hey, I'm not going to deny that this guy may be a total douche bag, and I do not agree with him, or his song lyrics, but the freedom of speech is the freedom of speech.

    • 2 years ago
  • bishopobispo
    • 0
      bishopobispo  
    • twoon:

      @twoon,

      I think our interpretation of what Freedom of Speech is is what is in question here.

      Organized peaceful rallies in the street? Sure.

      Inciting violence against another group of people? I'm not so cool with that.

    • 2 years ago
  • Kaotik
  • bishopobispo
    • 0
      bishopobispo  
    • twoon:

      Excellent forward Kaotik.

      Peaceful protesters were treated like criminals at the RNC in Minneapolis this last election cycle and I wasn't okay with that.

      But still, you get my gist. There are proper ways we can express injustice in our community and what this rapper did doesn't fit the mold (especially when he was the one who was just trying to make a buck).

    • 2 years ago
  • GodsnLiberals
  • Tyrannous
  • Reidefineyou
  • bishopobispo
    • 0
      bishopobispo  
    • onemalefla:

      Hat's off. We can't make excuses for everyone who is incarcerated. It just makes those times we really do think our justice system gets carried away seem less credible.

      Plus, it sounds like this guy was a grade A asshole. I'm not at all sympathetic to the fact that he is in prison.

      If you're going to organize a protest against what you deem to be overagressive police in your area that's fine. Go through the proper channels and carry yourself with some class. But c'mon, throwing together a rap song which shits all over a dead officer and implying that you want more officers to die isn't going to help the situation.

      I doubt this guy cares anything about free speech or really knows what it means. His was was just using the Constitution to save his own ass while only worsening a broader problem (potentially a poor police relationship with the public) to sell more records for himself.

      Irresponsible and guileless.

    • 2 years ago
  • J_Jammer
    • 0
      J_Jammer [removed]  
    • onemalefla:

      Probation? Weak.

      I think that if they are being strict then they have something to go on. I don't think it's necessary, though. They are just making him justifiable. There are better ways to handle this....like making him speak positive about the police to a community that the rap is going to be listened to. Arresting him and jailing him makes him right. No need to make him right. He's stupid enough as is.

    • 2 years ago
  • ghostisblunted
  • bishopobispo
  • twoon
  • neodobby
    • 0
      neodobby  

    • You mean Ice-T, who recorded the song "Cop Killer" with his rock band Body Count in 1992. With that aside, this is a very interesting story, and I generally agree with your opinion; but if this rapper mentioned specific cop names and went in to detail about a planned assault, then I might agree with the court.

    • 2 years ago
  • twoon
more from Music:
from the community

top videos