Fight The Power
Renowned criminal defense attorney Brian Steel feels authorities unjustly target hip-hop culture. So for his clients, he stands on business with poise and passion.
Interview: Joey Echevarria
Editor’s Note: This story appears in the Summer 2026 issue of XXL Magazine, on newsstands now and available for sale on the XXL website.
Brian Steel has spent his entire adult life relentlessly standing behind the Sixth Amendment—the right to a fair trial. Incensed by corruption within the criminal justice system, the 61-year-old criminal defense attorney has been an essential ally for 35 years to clients he feels are wrongly accused. After handling the two most high-profile cases in the culture’s history, the Atlanta-based lawyer is now considered a hero by the hip-hop game.
Raised in Queens, N.Y., Brian initially studied business at the University of Michigan before switching his focus to tax law by the end of the 1980s. Later, while attending Fordham University School of Law, a harrowing in-court experience changed Brian’s career path forever: after seeing a teenager convicted of murder, the advocate felt he had no choice but to help people stay out of prison.
After college, Brian moved to Atlanta, where he passed the Georgia bar and began his career as a public defender. By 1997, Brian and his wife, Colette, started their practice, The Steel Law Firm, P.C. In the decades since, Brian has fought for clients from downtrodden communities and represented powerful officials, earning him national respect as a criminal defense attorney.
For those reasons, it’s no surprise that Young Thug sought out Brian while Thug was a rising star in Atlanta’s rap scene of the 2010s. Years later, by the time of the 2023-2024 YSL RICO case, Brian was determined to keep his close friend and longtime client out of prison for life. After the year-long trial concluded, Brian succeeded: Young Thug accepted a plea deal in 2024, receiving a sentence commuted to time served and 15 years on probation.
Less than a year after Young Thug’s trial ended, Brian was hand-picked by Diddy in April 2025. Diddy wanted Brian on his legal team as the former Bad Boy mogul faced federal sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution charges. As in the Thug case, Brian believed Diddy was wrongly accused. He saw the charges as an attempt to bring down a hip-hop icon.
Brian remains dissatisfied with the outcome. Still, he and Diddy’s attorneys convinced the jury to convict Sean Combs only on much lesser counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. This past March, Brian joined Lil Durk’s legal team. Durk is facing life in prison if convicted of paying five men to travel to California to murder rap rival Quando Rondo in 2022.
On a late afternoon, just hours before enjoying Thanksgiving dinner with his family this past November, and again in early June, Brian joined XXL via Zoom from his Georgia home. The loyal and empathetic conqueror of injustice discussed his deep connection to Young Thug, Brian’s belief that notable figures in hip-hop are unfairly targeted by authorities, Drake paying homage to him on wax, his conviction that Diddy is on the road to redemption, Lil Durk’s trial and more.
XXL: What is it about rap music and hip-hop culture that you gravitate to both personally and professionally?
Brian Steel: I’m a big fan of the music and the artists. I’m just a huge fan of Jeffery [Young Thug] and other people that I’ve met, unfortunately, through my profession. As far as intersecting with the criminal justice system, it is clear that people in hip-hop are getting targeted all across our country by prosecutors.
Whether it’s lyrics, tattoos, the clothing, the frame of speech without it even being a lyric, just something somebody would send in a text message; it is so wrong. Prosecutors, judges, police officers and agents have unleashed themselves to go after people in this industry. What they’ve done, it is racist.
The majority of people in hip-hop come from lower-income areas and they’re minorities, and what I’ve found is that if I leave my house with tattoos all over my face and my arms, and I’m wearing a shirt that says, “F the police,” nobody bothers me. No one’s stopping me. Then, all you’ve got to do is make the person a person of color in any neighborhood, and they are getting tackled.
If they’re playing rap music from their cars, they are getting stopped over and over again. And then when you get arrested, the reports are this person was a danger to the community, too much loud noise. They were looking in windows of houses. It’s not true. It’s just targeting.
Do you feel that Young Thug was targeted by authorities?
He is a perfect example. He’d be driving a car; I’m getting a phone call, he’s in jail somewhere. He’d be getting on a plane, and out of all the people on that plane, he’s the one that has to get off and get arrested. His house is the house that gets searched and kicked in, and there’s 150 agents surrounding the house with helicopters.
I would have quit if I lost his trial. Jeffery is arrested, and they want him to die in prison. They want to take all of his wealth and make all of his music out to be gang-related, murder-related, really ruin his reputation. I knew there was a way to win his case because I was around him so long. I knew he wasn’t doing this. I had been to his studios before, I know his management. “He’s doing lyrics to tell people go kill people,” I knew this was not true. What a corrupt trial.
In what specific ways do you feel the trial was corrupt?
He knew the prosecutors were lying; the judge was permitting the lies to go forward. It was really bad. They gave us a witness list. They gave us 800 people. They just inflated by 600 people. I interviewed everyone who would talk to me and I’m learning like, “Yeah, I interviewed for the prosecutor, and I told them this…” Well, that’s good for my client, but they didn’t give it to me. The law says you’ve got to give over information that is good for the client. The judge would do nothing about it. That doesn’t make sense. You’re encouraging misconduct on the prosecutorial.
At one point during the YSL RICO Trial, you were held in contempt for refusing to disclose how you learned about an ex parte meeting between the judge, prosecutors and key witness Lil Woody. The charge was ultimately overturned. Do you ever hold any resentment toward the judicial system in instances like that?
Not really. I don’t care about me, but I harbor resentment that we treat people the way we do. I didn’t care if I stayed in jail to die. The truth has to come out. You’ve got to give people a place to go and have fairness, and that was lacking in Jeffery’s case with the first judge. Because of that, I think that Jeffery’s a hero because he did not buckle.
Back in March, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted a motion filed by Lil Durk asking the court to replace his then-attorney with you. What role will you serve on Durk’s legal team?
There’s going to be a re-indictment, as we’re speaking, that comes out in a couple of days. Maybe even today. So, we’ll see where that lands, but it’ll be a team effort.
Without violating any sort of client privilege, is there anything you can share regarding the case or an overall statement you can provide for us?
I usually don’t do official statements, and it’s a pending case, but he’s innocent. He’s not guilty of these charges, but we will deal with whatever the government wants to bring.
Many people within hip-hop culture consider you a hero. Do you view yourself that way?
No, I don’t view myself as anything. I was a small part of bringing out the truth of the criminal justice system, and we can change it. If this has roots, which I believe it does, and the next generation and the current generation and the judges will say, “We’re not doing that,” then I am happy to be a part of it. You would do the same.
Was Young Thug your first client in the hip-hop space?
With client privilege, I can’t tell you because we got the case dismissed. So, we never went public, but Jeffery and I have known each other for something like 15 years. We did a lot of cases, and we won every case before his most recent case.
What first led you to take on Young Thug as a client?
I was on trial, and I got a phone call from his manager who said, “Jeffery Williams only wants you, and he needs you for this case.” So, I was honored to meet with him, and I represented him in the first case, and PTI [Pre-trial Intervention], some program got it dismissed. It worked out well, and I got to know him.
It’s serious when you represent somebody. You’ve got to really walk in their shoes. So, I got close to Jeffery because of that, and then he keeps getting arrested, wrongly arrested. All these cases are dismissed, and he keeps get- ting stronger. He’s getting more management. He’s getting more people around him. Then at some point, it was like, “Whatever you need, we’re with you.”
How do you view Young Thug as a person and as an artist?
To me, he is America. You took a guy who’s been shot twice. He went foodless. He went without an education. He was freezing cold. He was burning hot. He’s never been told, “I believe in you.” That’s the guy who now performs in front of 300,000 people. How do you not love Jeffery Williams? How do you not look at him and say, “He is a role model.”
In April of 2025, you joined Diddy’s legal team in his federal sex trafficking case. How did that come about?
Sean’s management team called shortly before trial. He has great lawyers, and I’m like, “You don’t need me,” and they said, “He wants you.” So, I get permission from his lawyers. I fly up to Brooklyn, I meet with him, and I knew Sean Combs. I don’t know him like I know Jeffery, but I knew who Sean Combs was. What matters is people and talent and energy and fun. So, I loved the Sean Combs I knew.
I meet him, and it’s attorney-client privilege, but it was very impactful for me. He asked me to join his team. I met with the team, and I was honored to do it. Don’t look at the allegations, the accusations, look beyond it. I just sat there with Sean and I said, “If this is what you want, I will do it.” I moved to New York, and the team there was great.
Did you view the verdict as a win for Diddy and the legal team?
I was not happy with the result because I believed that Sean was totally overcharged. The jury did acquit him of sex trafficking and RICO, but he was convicted of what I think is prostitution. He got sentenced as if he coerced people into prostitution. I didn’t appreciate that at all. I want people to go home and, Sean Combs, he carries it with him.
He said it at sentencing; He looks in the mirror every day and asks why did I do that and how do I change? I mean, no one has to punish him. He gets it. He laid his hands on women; violently laid his hands on women. That will never change in his mind or anyone’s. He’s not trying to change anyone’s mind. But to say that the sex wasn’t consensual is not a truthful statement. That was proven.
The prosecutors had no right to bring those types of charges against them. It was obvious to everybody. It was obvious to them. You know, you go from Jeffery to Sean, and you just see this pattern. It’s just misconduct. It’s selling people a lie.
How did you feel when Drake released a song last year titled “Brian Steel?”
It was fun! You know, who gets those gentlemen, those great artists, to talk about you? I know Drake. I’ve spoken with him before. He’s a very, very nice man. So, I was thrilled. I thought it was all just funny.
Did you know about the song before it was released?
No. Somebody in the media called me and said, “What do you think about this?” I had no idea what they were talking about.
After all the hip-hop-related moments you’ve been involved with, do fans of Young Thug, Diddy or even Drake ever approach you?
Yeah, yeah. I meet people who recognize me sometimes, and even after the picture, I tell them the same thing. There’s no need to take a picture with me. I should be asking to take a picture with you, and I’m honored to meet with you.
It’s not about somebody taking a picture or doing a song with my name on it. If we could change the attitude of even one person, we would possibly save somebody from going to prison, unnecessarily.
What’s the most important piece of advice you give to your clients who are under such a magnifying glass in the public’s eye?
What do you want to see for your children? It’s the same answer all the time. What they want is, “I want my child to be a doctor, a lawyer, go to school and be educated. If they want to become a rapper, that’s fine, but their vocabulary will be much bigger. They’ll understand how to use phrases. If they want to be an athlete, that’s fine, but they have to understand how to communicate. That’s what I want.” Then, what we do is we say, “Great. No drugs, no guns, no violence, no gangs and let’s get educated.”
Brian Steel’s interview in the 2026 XXL Freshman issue is available to purchase here. In addition to interviews with the 2026 XXL Freshman Class and DJ Drama, there are also conversations with T.I., Swae Lee, Sexyy Red, Young M.A, Diamond*, Cash Cobain, Skilla Baby, Lil Tjay and more, plus a look back at what the 2025 XXL Freshman Class has been doing and explore the cultural impact of the 2016 XXL Freshman Class and where its members are today.