"Dude gonna be rapping in army recruitment videos"— Fans react as rapper BG is ordered to have all songs approved by US Govt.

On June 28, 2024, US district court judge Susie Morgan ordered that all of rapper BG's future songs must be approved by the US government before being released or promoted. The rapper is currently under federal supervision after his release from prison in September 2023, where he served his 11-year sentence for illegal gun possession amid other charges.

During the hearing in Louisiana, Judge Morgan ruled against the prosecution's request to stop BG “from promoting and glorifying future gun violence/murder” in his songs and concerts. However, the rapper was ordered to supply the US government "with a copy of the lyrics of any song he writes."

The news of the New Orleans rapper's music being vetted by the US government before release received mixed responses on social media. A few netizens found the situation humorous, with one person tweeting:

"Dude gonna be rapping in Army recruitment videos."

More people chimed in with their funny or sarcastic tweets, wondering how the government would react to receiving music from the rapper.

"bro sending his songs to a US government groupchat askin "yall think this hard?!"" one person tweeted.

"I didn't know BG stood for Big Goverment," another person added.

"BG about to stand for Big Gospel once big brother is done with his lyrics," wrote one person.

However, others were concerned whether this ruling was a violation of his First Amendment rights, aka, the right to freedom of speech.

"maybe i just don’t have an understanding of how the constitution works, but i don’t get how this isn’t a violation of the first amendment," wrote one person.

"It’s not as bad as the headline suggests. They tried to get approval rights for all his songs but the judge said that violates his 1st Amendment rights. So they get to review his songs and may decide to adjust his supervised release terms based on the what he’s saying," added another person.

"This sets a really weird precedent even if he is or was previously incarcerated. I’m not a lawyer but this has to be infringing on a right somehow," tweeted someone else.

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BG was arrested in March 2024 for violating the terms of his supervised release

BG, aka Baby Gangsta, whose real name is Christopher Boryse, performed at a Las Vegas concert in February with fellow rapper Boosie BadAzz, who has several felony convictions.

Following the concert, he was arrested in March for violating the terms of his supervised release, which stipulated that he refrain from associating with other convicted felons. He was released shortly after his arrest on his own recognizance.

During the June hearing, the prosecution alleged that BG did not seek permission to perform with Boosie, adding that the lyrics of the songs performed led to them questioning BG's commitment to rehabilitation. The prosecution also brought forth the lyrics of the rapper's songs in his 2020 mixtape, Chopper & Bricks, with Gucci Mane, another convicted felon.

While BG reportedly got permission to perform with Boosie, his lyrics led to the verdict on June 28, 2024. Subsequently, BG and his team argued against the new rules imposed on him, with the ruling stating,

“The Defendant argues that the additional condition proposed by the Government is an unconstitutional prior restraint of speech that is an overly broad condition of supervised release."

Judge Susie Morgan ultimately ruled that the rapper should provide his probation officer with any new song he writes, who will in turn pass it on to the US government for further scrutiny. If the government deemed the new lyrics “inconsistent with the goals of rehabilitation," the prosecutors could argue to modify the terms of the rapper's supervised release.

The new ruling added to the controversy surrounding rappers' lyrics being used as evidence in trials, with the most famous example in recent times being Young Thug's ongoing trial regarding the YSL RICO case.

Many artists, such as Jay-Z and Megan Thee Stallion, have championed against using rap lyrics as proof of criminal behavior, adding that it most commonly affects Black artists.

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BG is prolifically known for his classic hit song Bling Bling in 1999, featuring Big Tymerz and Hot Boyz. The song peaked at No. 36 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The rapper was arrested in 2009 for a felony gun charge and was sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2012 for two counts of possession of a firearm and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice.