The Bar Exam

Artist: Wyclef Jean
Track: Yele
Album: The Carnival

Although there are lyrics on the web, the lyrics in Creole have received some criticism from web subjectivities and my rudimentary knowledge of Creole don't allow me to assess more than a few words or phrases.

Haitian Disaster Relief

Please visit http://www.yele.org/ to donate to relief efforts in Haiti. Haiti is the first independent country in Latin America and the first independent black republic. The earthquake, which occurred just two miles from the capital of Port-au-Prince, destroyed the state prison, houses, and hospitals. Concrete dust is strewn over every surface. Hospitals cannot accommodate the injured. Aftershocks were felt over 100 miles away and thousands of people have been displaced. The United Nations and United States have already committed aid. If you are in a position to help, perhaps you should.

Hip-Hop Song on Lobbying

I make no claims as to the quality of the song, but it's funny and rather accurate.

-- Nick J. Sciullo

Conference Alert and Call for Papers: From the Levin College of Law

We are currently planning the 2010 conference. Please email any suggestions for speakers or musical acts to MusicLawConference@gmail.com.

The Music Law Conference at The University of Florida Levin College of Law is hosting its 8th annual conference on February 27, 2010. The conference brings together musicians, lawyers, students, academics, policy makers and entertainment professionals for a weekend to network, learn, and share ideas. It is our goal that everyone, from the disgruntled ex-band member to the seasoned entertainment attorney, that attends the conference will leave with a new perspective on the music industry.

The theme of last year's conference was "From the Suits to the Stage." We explored topics that every musician and future entertainment professional needs to know.

Topics for this year will include: digital and retail markets, new forms of music distribution, international issues, ethical issues, protecting musicians' rights, understanding both sides of the table, the art of business, and basic D.I.Y. (Do-It-Yourself) ideas for new artists.

The Conference is scheduled for Feb. 27, 2010 (Saturday) at the Chesterfield Smith Ceremonial Classroom at the University Levin College of Law. The conference and panel discussions, which will examine the music business, will take place from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The live music showcase will be on the evening of Feb. 27, 2010 from 9pm to 1:30am at a local music venue.

Directions to get to the Levin College of Law from West 13th Street (SR 441): Go west approximately 2 miles on SR-26 (University Avenue). Turn left on Southwest Second Avenue. Continue to Southwest 25th Street. The law school is located at Southwest Second Avenue and 25th Street.

There is a registration fee required to attend the conference, but the panel discussions are free for all current UF students and faculty with a valid university ID. Seating is limited, so register early!

For more information about the conference please e-mail MusicLawConference@gmail.com. Visit our blog at musiclawconference.blogspot.com.

Thank you for your interest.

-- Nick J. Sciullo

2009 in Review: Hip Hop-related law review articles

With the year wrapping up, I thought it only appropriate to compile a list of law review articles published this year that might be relevant to hip-hop scholars, with SSRN links where I could find them. This list probably is not exclusive, so feel free to add articles in the comments section.

Reuven Ashtar, Theft, Transformation, and the Need of the Immaterial: A Proposal for Fair Use Digital Sampling Regime, 19 Alb. L.J. Sci. & Tech. 261 (2009)

R. Richard Banks, Class and Culture: The Indeterminacy of Nondiscrimination, 5 Stan. J.C.R. & C.L. 1 (2009)

Jacob Honigman, Can't Stop Snitchin': Criminalizing Threats Made in "Stop Snitching" Media Under the True Threats Exception to the First Amendment, 32 Colum. J.L. & Arts 207 (2009)

Lolita Buckner Inniss, A 'Ho New World: Raced and Gendered Insult as Ersatz Carnival and the Corruption of Freedom of Expression Norms, 33 N.Y.U. Rev. L. & Soc. Change 43 (2009)

Max N. Panoff, Black, Tie Optional: How the NBA's Dress Code Violates Title VII, 8 Va. Sports & Ent. L.J. 275 (2009)

Tracy Reilly, The "Spiritual Temperature" of Contemporary Popular Music: An Alternative to the Legal Regulation of Death-Metal and Gangsta-Rap Lyrics, 11 Vand. J. Ent. & Tech. L. 335 (2009)

Meredith L. Schantz, Mixed Signals: How Mixtapes Have Blurred the Changing Legal Landscape in the Music Industry, 17 U. Miami Bus. L. Rev. 293 (2009)

Nick J. Sciullo, Conversations with the Law: Irony, Hyperbole and Identity Politics or Sake Pase? Wyclef Jean, Shottas, and Haitian Jack - A Hip-Hop Creole Fusion of Rhetorical Resistance to the Law, 34 Okla. C. U. L. Rev. 455 (2009)

Here's to a successful 2010 to all the scholars hip-hop has touched.

-- Nick J. Sciullo

A Hip Hop Theory of Justice

Professor Paul Butler, George Washington University Law School, recently guest blogged for the Washington Post where he described his vision of a new kind of American social justice, one influenced by the hip hop nation. For the Washington Post, Professor Butler wrote:

"Imagine crime and punishment in a hip-hop nation. Believe it or not, the culture provides a blueprint for the transformation of American criminal justice. Hip-hop leads us toward a system that would enhance public safety and treat all people with respect. Who would have thought that the most thuggish art could improve law and order? . . . .

Hip hop is obsessed with criminal justice. Its fashion actually began as a tribute to the loose baggy clothes that prison inmates wear. Thousands of hip-hop songs consider crime and punishment. They evaluate justice from the bottom up. No other form of pop culture does a better job at reminding Americans that we have the highest rate of incarceration in the world, and that communities can be destroyed by both crime and punishment."

For Professor Butler's entire post, see the WashingtonPost.com.

In guest blogging for the Post, Professor Butler is excerpting his groundbreaking new book "Let's Get Free: A Hip Hop Theory of Justice." The book is exceptional. Anyone interested in the transformative power of hip hop should get this book and read it carefully.

Stay tuned for a comprehensive review of the book in coming weeks . . . .

Will Punk or Emo become the new hip-hop?

Music tends to have generational significance. Blues was a rebellious form of music years ago in the earlier part of this last century. Jazz likewise was a sharp break from standard popular music in the years after Blues first began its rebellious riffs. Rock became an outlet for youth in the 1960s and 1970s. Reggae, perhaps, picked up where Rock left off and carried us into the 1980s and then of course there was Hip-Hop.

What will children of the late 90's and early 00's take as their music? Perhaps Punk and Emo (short for Emotional or Emotional Rock) will speak to the next generation. I'm not talking about the Sex Pistols, but more modern Punk. This music has spoken to the angst, worry, and fear of teenagers for years, originating in England some 30 or so years ago. Punk and Emo music address pressing problems of group conformity and identity, relationships, love, rebellion, distrust of parents, concern about politics, and myriad other issues that are often the subject of every generation's rebel music. They aren't the same, but many see Emo as growing out of Punk.

Furthermore punk has impacted clothing and appearance choices not unlike previous rebel music. Gratuitous piercings and tattoos are often common, leather cloths, wallet chains, skull logos, and massive amounts of black or neon colored clothing are often characteristic of punk. Emo has likewise caused many youth to straighten their hair and die it black.

I'm no expert on Punk and Emo, although I did go to Warped Tour (2002 maybe) at what was then the Verizon Amphitheater in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Most true Punk and Emo supporters would likely bemoan all the "sell-outs" on stage there, but it was something different for me and let me at least begin to look into this community.

I'm also not sure that Punk or Emo has the same socio-historical importance of Hip-Hop, but perhaps that's my own bias. Who knows? Maybe Flogging Molly, Dashboard Confessional, Fall Out Boy, Good Charlotte are the new prophets among us.

-- Nick J. Sciullo

The first hip-hop president... so now what?

Much has been made of President Barack Obama being the first hip-hop president. Over a year after his election, it is probably time to ask, "What does that mean?" To be sure, many hip-hop artists have flocked to the President. Artists from Common to Nas and Young Jeezy, will.i.am to Joel Ortiz have produced songs in support of Obama.

And many critics have questioned what hip-hop means or even has to do with being President. See Sasha Frere-Jones, in The New Yorker, who takes a less than enthusiastic view. Slightly more positive is the Harvard Political Review, Harvard's undergraduate political science magazine. Opposed to the notion is Rosa Clemente who wrote an article commissioned by the Green Institute. Then there's Matthew Cooper's piece at the Huffington Post that seems to blur the line between honest reflection and mocking hyperbole. Also look at an NPR story on hip-hop flocking to Obama.

What are hip-hop fans, community members, and casual listeners to make of this? There's a danger in assuming that because President Obama claims to listen to Jay-Z, is relatively young, hails from a city with a strong hip-hop scene, etc., that he is able to or even wants to represent hip-hop. Let's not let our excitement from the historical nature of this election blind us to the realities of presidential politics. It's a big task to shoulder the entire hip-hop community and hip-hop isn't monolithic. We might see this as a stepping stone, but Obama can't do it all. Obama will not solve the world's problems and he won't solve hip-hop's. Health care and climate change are pressing issues. Police violence continues to be endemic in many communities. There's a struggling economy that needs desperate help. Even if we expect Obama to lead the hip-hop nation, it's not going to happen soon. It is not a priority item on his policy agenda.

Has Obama done a good job representing hip-hop? What does it mean to represent hip-hop? Do we often think of President's as representing musical genres or communities? Did anybody call Bush II the Texas president or the country music president? And if they did, what did that mean? Often times elected officials will make claims that they best speak for a segment of the population, but that is not always true. It seems that the hip-hop community seized upon Obama and not that Obama seized upon the hip-hop community. Sure, he worked hard to mobilize minorities and young people, but that doesn't necessarily mean he was targeting hip-hop.


-- Nick J. Sciullo


(Obama poster courtesy of eshark design.)

The Bar Exam

ludacris feat. mary j blige - runaway love


Artist: Ludacris (feat. Mary J. Blige)
Track: Runaway Love
Album: Release Therapy

Little Nicole is only 10 years old
She's steady trying to figure why the world is so cold
Why she's not pretty and nobody seems to like her
Alcoholic step-dad always wanna strike her
Yells and abuses, leaves her with some bruises
Teachers ask questions she's making up excuses
Bleeding on the inside, crying on the out
It's only one girl really knows what she's about
Her name is little Stacy and they become friends
Promise that they always be tight 'til the end
Until one day little Stacy gets shot
A drive by bullet went stray up on her block
Now Nicole stuck up in the world on her own
Forced to think that hell is a place called home
Nothing else to do but get her clothes and pack
She says she's 'bout to run away and never come back


(Video Courtesy of Universal Music Group)

Celebrating 25 Years of Def Jam

2009 marks the 25 year anniversary of the creation of Def Jam Records, undoubtedly the most influential rap label in the history of hip hop. Founded by Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons, Def Jam in its 25 years has been responsible for, among many other things, (a) bringing rap and hip hop into the mainstream (think Run DMC and Aerosmith's "Walk This Way" and the always enjoyable motion picture "Krush Groove"); (b) providing the platform for the explosive social critique that hip hop is now famous for (think Public Enemy and "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back" and "Fear of a Black Planet"); (c) providing the blueprint and model for the young black hip hop CEO and entrepreneur (think Russell Simmons and Phat Farm, Def Comedy Jam and $100 million as a price tag for his sale of Def Jam to Universal); (d) radically changing the music industry, including the label/artist/music making model (think Rubin and Simmons in dorm rooms running the label, think recording studios in basements and bedrooms, think "Hustle & Flow"); (e) crossing hip hop over into a multi racial industry (think Beastie Boys and "Licensed to Ill"); (f) launching the careers of dozens of influential artists and bands.

The gravity of Def Jam's influence cannot be overstated. To wit:

"Def Jam meant to the music industry as much as Stax, Atlantic and Motown meant to their respective music," said rapper Chuck D, whose group Public Enemy is one of the most famous to appear on the label. "It started from the same humble beginnings that all of those other companies started, very small, but very much passionate about the music."

"I think Def Jam has done a whole lot for hip-hop, for music in general. It's just given us a face of hip-hop for us to want to become a part of something," rapper Snoop Dogg said. "Even the rappers from the west[ern U.S.] wanted to be a part of Def Jam. Def Jam was like the Mecca of hip-hop."

"Def Jam is the Motown Records of hip-hop, and that is without question," said writer and pop culture expert Kevin Powell. "You really can't talk about a significant chapter in hip-hop history over the last 25 years without talking about Def Jam."

Speaking during the 2009 VH1 Hip Hop Honors, Island Def Jam Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Antonio "L.A." Reid said he believes that it will continue to live on for years to come. "When Def Jam was founded, it was founded upon an amazing idea," he said. "And it's an amazing idea that's bigger than all of its founders, bigger than all of its presidents, bigger than all of its chairmen and bigger than all of its artists. My guess is that it will be around a lot longer than any of us."

Lil Wayne, Cash Money Records Face Another Infringement Battle

Rapper Lil Wayne is facing yet another copyright infringement action. Thomas Marasciullo claims he created some "Italian-styled spoken word recordings" for them in 2006, but did not give Lil Wayne and Birdman permission to use them.

Marasciullo alleges the recordings were used on a number of songs on the rappers' joint album Like Father, Like Son as well as on some tracks on Birdman's CD 5 (Star) Stunna.

Click here for more info.

Lil' Wayne Pleads Guilty

Lil' Wayne plead guilty today to charges of "attempted criminal possession of a weapon," as announced by the Manhattan, New York district attorney's office. Lil' Wayne was arrested in 2007 when police officers stopped him and another man on the streets of NYC smoking marijuana and with a .40-caliber pistol in Lil' Wayne's possession. Lil' Wayne will be sentenced in February 2010 and is believed will receive a one year jail sentence for possession of this weapon.

Of course, this news brings to mind the weapon possession plea of former New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress, who is currently serving time in jail for famously possessing a firearm in a New York night club and accidentally shooting himself in the leg.

Both incidences raise the familiar questions in connection with celebrity artists and athletes carrying weapons (ostensibly for protection) and the very different state laws around the United States that regulate weapon possession. Many would argue that celebrity athletes and artists are in need of some type of protection from overreaching fans and those in the general public that seek to challenge these individuals. In addition, the possession of these weapons would not be criminal in many states who have adopted unlicensed weapon possession laws, including some that adopt no permit concealed weapon possession laws (concealed carry).

Is this really how we want to criminalize possessors of weapons? Both Plaxico Burress and Lil' Wayne are arguably in the prime of their careers and will now both spend time behind bars, presumably alongside hardened criminals, for possessing weapons (not for using them or hurting anyone (beside themselves)).

Doc Alert: Copyright Criminals Asks 'Can you own a sound?'

Copyright Criminals: This Is a Sampling Sport examines the creative and commercial value of musical sampling, including the related debates over artistic expression, copyright law, and (of course) money.

This documentary traces the rise of hip-hop from the urban streets of New York to its current status as a multibillion-dollar industry. For more than thirty years, innovative hip-hop performers and producers have been re-using portions of previously recorded music in new, otherwise original compositions. When lawyers and record companies got involved, what was once referred to as a “borrowed melody” became a “copyright infringement.”

The film showcases many of hip-hop music’s founding figures like Public Enemy, De La Soul, and Digital Underground—while also featuring emerging hip-hop artists from record labels Definitive Jux, Rhymesayers, Ninja Tune, and more. It also provides an in-depth look at artists who have been sampled, such as Clyde Stubblefield (James Brown’s drummer and the world’s most sampled musician), as well as commentary by another highly sampled musician, funk legend George Clinton.

As artists find ever more inventive ways to insert old influences into new material, this documentary asks a critical question, on behalf of an entire creative community: Can you own a sound?

Hip Hop Academic Presentations

Hip hop in academia is being debated worldwide. On October 2, 2009, at the LatCrit Legal Scholarship Conference, a panel of law professors engaged in a presentation entitled "The Hip Hop Movement at the Intersection of Race, Class and Culture: Hip Hop Music's Effect on the Pursuit of Life, Liberty and Happiness." Law professors (and Hip Hop Law.com contributors) D. Aaron Lacy, Akilah Folami, andré douglas pond cummings and Kamille Wolff each presented provocative talks that discussed and debated the role of hip hop in current law and global culture.

Professor Lacy presented: "Represent: The NFL and NBA's Reaction to the Infiltration of Hip Hop Culture with its Players and its Effects on the Employment of the Black Male Athlete."

Professor Folami presented: "From Habermas to 'Get Rich or Die Tryin': Hip Hop, The Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the Black Public Sphere."

Professor cummings presented: "Thug Life: Hip Hop's Tricky Impact on Criminal Punishment and Corporate Exploitation."

Professor Wolff presented: "Chutes and Ladders: The Story of Rosario Dawson"

The LatCrit panel engendered much comment and debate following the presentations outlined above.


Additionally, on October 4, 2009, at Franklin College in Lugano, Switzerland, at the "Intersections of Law and Culture" conference, on a panel entitled "Law and Pop Culture" three law professors from the United States debated race, hip hop and equality examining the impact of race and hip hop on global culture. Law professors Akilah Folami, andré douglas pond cummings and David Oppenheimer presented cutting edge talks to an audience of undergraduate and law professors primarily from European institutions (including students from Franklin College).

Professor Folami again presented: "From Habermas to 'Get Rich or Die Tryin': Hip Hop, The Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the Black Public Sphere."

Professor cummings presented: "Thug Life: Hip Hop's Curious Relationship with Criminal Justice."

Professor Oppenheimer presented: "The Legal and Social Concept of 'Color Blindness' in the United States and France."

Following these three presentations, intense debate ensued discussing the genuine role of color blindness internationally and the true potential of hip hop to be transformative and the difficult intersections of hip hop with negative imagery and influence.

More evidence that hip hop is not dead?

Earlier this year the ABA Journal reported that a litigant who filed his own appeals brief written partially in rap has won his Wisconsin appeals court ruling that he doesn't have to pay legal fees for a law suit deemed frivolous by a circuit court judge.

Gregory Royal, a trombone player, argued that he shouldn't have to pay $3,750 in feels for filing a lawsuit against county officials in Wisconsin who recommended that his divorcing wife should have primary custody of the children.

Royal's brief contained the following lines, "A domestic relations exceptions, I was supposed to know. Appellee would know too, so why did he spend so much doe?" "Regarding frivolous filings, one thing is clear, Notice to show cause and proper service before you appear."

Royal told the Associated Press he used rap in his six-page brief, rather than a lawyer, to help persuade the court. Royal said, "Imagine a real attorney who can actually capitalize and perfect that expression and throw some heavy stuff in there. It's like Einstein's theory of relatively. It's so short but so perfect there's nothing you can say about it."

Perhaps it was Royal's rap that really convinced the judge to rule in his favor. And more attorneys should use more catchy lines in their briefs to get the court's attention. But regardless, this is more evidence that hip hop is still alive kicking.