Tiny Doo Essay

A major element of hip-hop music is “realness” or authenticity from an artist within the genre. However, there is a fine line between authenticity and explicit truth, a line that has been crossed several times in recent years. Prosecutors have used rap lyrics against artists in a court of law, deeming the lyrics as factual evidence. The politics behind the use of rap lyrics in trial have caused for several artists to face criminal charges solely based on the content of their music. Brandon Duncan, otherwise known as Tiny Doo, is one of several artists whose music has turned into a political controversy rather than a promising career. Tiny Doo’s hip-hop career was suspended due to the politics surrounding a California law that allowed for his

The song beings with a sample of a man telling a story about the “oppressive people” and the “oppressors.” The “oppressive people” being the black community and the “oppressors” being anyone who wishes to bring them down. The violence comes in as the man on the sample says “anything that goes down should be reciprocal”, meaning the black community is willing to fight back against the institution using violence. He goes on to say “it takes two to tango” just as Tiny Doo begins his first verse. Tiny Doo raps “who the f*** needs an army / y 'all n***as can’t harm me”, which does not come off as explicitly violent, the only controversial part of a line such as this one are the curse words it contains. Ironically, it seems to be that the real “oppressors” are the prosecution, while Tiny Doo remains a member of the “oppressive people” because he is subject to the politics regarding his artwork. The two most popular songs on his mixtape, which only have thirty-four thousand plays on SoundCloud combined, were somehow seen as threatening enough for Tiny Doo to be locked behind bars for almost seventh

Camilleri explains how Tiny Doo was linked to nine shootings and the only piece of evidence prosecutors held against him was indeed his mixtape. Tiny Doo explains how he was in his home when the police came “in like the navy or something, machine guns drawn.” When he asked police why he was being arrested, they replied “you’re going to jail for nine murders” (Huffington Post, Video Interview). After listening to Tiny Doo’s mixtape, it is impossible to find nine different tales of murder instances. The basis for the arrest was solely upon the “California Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention Act” because Doo’s mixtape somehow connected him to gang related incidences in San