Judge Rules Rap Lyrics May Be Used in Yella Beezy’s Trial

A Texas judge has reportedly ruled that some rap lyrics can be used in Yella Beezy’s upcoming murder-for-hire trial for the killing of Mo3.

On Monday (July 27), Judge Chika Anyiam made the final ruling, following multiple days of arguments from both sides last week, according to Fox 4 Dallas-Fort Worth. She will allow some of the songs proposed by the prosecution to be presented during the trial stage, including Mo3’s “2 Nineteen,” which references the shooting of Roylee Pate; Yella Beezy’s “Keep It in the Streets” and portions of Beezy’s “On Ya Head.”

Judge Anyiam will also allow prosecutors to introduce some relevant social media posts from Beezy and Mo3, a 2019 interview that Beezy did with VladTV, evidence about the 2017 assault of Mo3 associate Roylee Pate and the 2018 shooting that wounded Yella Beezy.

The judge ruled that the accused gunman Kewon White’s trial should take place before Yella Beezy’s case is seen in court. White’s trial is now slated to begin on Aug. 24, with Beezy’s case now set to take place sometime afterward.

Yella Beezy’s defense team argued against introducing song lyrics into the trial. During their argument last week, they called on testimony from Dr. Erik Nielson, a professor at the University of Richmond who has studied the use of rap lyrics in criminal cases for years.

“People found rap lyrics to be far more literal than the exact same lyrics characterized as country,” he testified, citing one study. “If they’re saying, ‘I did this or I did that’ … it can sound like a straight confession. It’s a perfect way to send people to jail for something they did not do.”

Investigators countered that the case is built on much more than rap lyrics, including witness statements, physical evidence, wiretaps, social media posts and more.

Beezy has been charged with capital murder, with authorities saying he paid Kwon White to kill Mo3 in November of 2020 due to a beef between the two rappers.

Yella Beezy has pleaded not guilty.