Unlawful Soundings: Art and Culture not evidence. Music on Trial. Literally

This thought-provoking webinar discussed the use of art and culture in criminal proceedings. Hosted by Greens List member Dr Felicity Gerry KC who has significant expertise on the use of music in court – including rap and nasheeds. Presented as a morning CPD session to accommodate participants across time zones, the webinar brought together a compelling panel of artists, legal thinkers, and cultural critics to unpack a deeply troubling trend: the increasing use of music particularly rap lyrics and music videos in criminal trials as prosecutorial evidence. At its core, Unlawful Soundings interrogated how creative expression, especially by marginalised voices, is being reframed as confession, intent, or evidence of “bad character.” 

The implications for justice, bias, and freedom of expression were key ingredients of the discussion which opened with Dylan Voller speaking on his experience of turning pain into power. Dylan, an Indigenous rap artist, delivered one of the most emotionally resonant contributions. Best known to many Australians for the shocking images of his mistreatment in NT youth detention, images that sparked a national Royal Commission, Dylan now creates rap music as a means of healing and resistance. He is an artist, advocate and CEO of Never Looking Back, a new enterprise delivering music workshops, artist development and connections for remote community artists. 

Dylan spoke candidly about how his lyrics reflect personal trauma and community struggle, not criminal intent. “They take what we say and twist it,” he explained. “We use music to survive. They use it to stereotype us.” His voice underscored the racialised nature of this issue, where Indigenous and Black artists are disproportionately targeted under the guise of public safety and moral panic. The panellists offered a diverse range of perspectives, drawing on lived experience, academic research, activism, and artistic practice.

Panel highlights included analysis from:

Dr Tareeq Jalloh, a philosopher and researcher at the University of Manchester, provided the theoretical backbone of the discussion. His academic work explores the culture, aesthetics, and criminalisation of rap music. Tareeq argued that rap is frequently decontextualised in legal settings with a failure to listen aesthetically, to erase artistry and reinforce damaging stereotypes. His framing of rap as a cultural and philosophical mode of resistance illuminated how courts mishear music, often out of fear or ignorance.

Elli Brazzill, music curator and director of the Art Not Evidence campaign, offered insight into UK activism seeking to restrict the use of lyrics in court. Her campaign argues that such practices violate fair trial rights and freedom of expression. Eli described troubling patterns: artists being criminalised not for actions, but for how they look or what they rhyme. She called for the legal community to adopt evidentiary thresholds that protect against such misuse.

Phillipa Stafford, a sound artist, researcher and early career lawyer, offered a unique perspective on feminist sound practice. As half of Sisters Akousmatica, she’s long explored the radical potential of radio and public sound art. Pip spoke to the dissonance between courtroom culture, rigid, textual, often dismissive of the senses, and the affective, immersive experience of sound. She encouraged lawyers to think sonically: to listen better, more ethically, and more deeply to the voices and vibrations that law often silences.

In addition, the webinar heard a powerful presentation of music as a background to massacre: Dr James Parker, associate professor at Melbourne Law School, brought an acoustic and legal philosophy lens to the table. Drawing on his book Acoustic Jurisprudence and co-curatorial work on The Eavesdropping Project, he reflected on the trial of Rwandan radio DJ Simon Bikindi, convicted in part for inciting genocide through music and highlighting the complexity of using sound as legal evidence.

Felicity spoke briefly about how the issue of using music as evidence of criminality is gaining prominence in the charging of musicians in relation to their expressed views on the situation in Palestine. Cases such as the charging of Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, a member of the Irish rap group Kneecap, and the cancelling of Bob Vylan and her direct experience in trials where music and lyrics were introduced as evidence, often with little regard for context or artistic license where the use of music lyrics as evidence is part of a broader legal trend that equates identity with guilt, undermines the presumption of innocence, and reinforces racialised bias.

Unlawful Soundings is a Greens List webinar available here.