C-Bo Jailed For 'Gangsta' Lyrics
REUTERS
Posted to alt.rap on (publication date not stated in the post)
SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) -- A California "gangsta" rap artist has been jailed after police complained that the lyrics on his new album "promote the gang lifestyle and are anti-law enforcement," officials said Wednesday.
Shawn Thomas, who performs as "C-BO", was taken to Sacramento County jail on Tuesday on charges of violating a parole agreement under which he agreed not to espouse criminal behavior, said Tip Kindel, spokesman for the California Department of Corrections.
"Our officers went out and got an album, listened to it and transcribed the lyrics," Kindel said.
"On the face of it, the album promotes a gang lifestyle, promotes criminal behavior and promotes violence against law enforcement. These were all clearly violations of his parole agreement."
'Insensitivity to First Amendment freedoms'
Thomas was also cited for traveling more than 50 miles from Sacramento without permission and failure to comply with a parole officer's request to vet his album and recording contract. A hearing at the State Board of Prison Terms will be set within 45 days.
The rapper's lawyer, John Duree, said he was shocked by the arrest and planned immediately to ask a judge to have the rap artist freed.
"I'm shocked that in this day and age a state agency would demonstrate that degree of insensitivity to First Amendment freedoms," Duree said.
The album, "'Til My Casket Drops", is expected to be released next week by AWOL Records, a Sacramento-based company.
'Shoot 'em in the face, y'all'
Police say one song on the album explicitly suggests that a sheriff's department spokesman be shot and another attacks Gov. Pete Wilson for his support of California's hard-line "three strikes" law on mandatory prison terms.
"It's a deadly game of baseball, so when they try to pull you over, shoot 'em in the face, y'all," Thomas raps in the song "Deadly Game".
Thomas was convicted for illegal use of a firearm in a 1994 incident in which a gun he was holding discharged and killed a man. He was paroled in July after serving 15 months at Soledad State Prison.
Kindel said that there was ample precedent for restricting the rapper's free speech rights, and that similar conditions were frequently set on people paroled after gang-related convictions.