Three times a viral song’s wild lyrics were actually used in a criminal trial

Loads of people have been analysing the lyrics and music videos of D4vd as the investigation into Celeste Rivas’ murder continues. Even though musicians write songs about things they’ve never experienced all the time, song lyrics have actually been used as evidence in criminal trials. Not just random songs that no one’s ever heard either – sometimes these songs have hundreds and millions of streams. Here’s a list of a few of the biggest – and wildest – times a song’s lyrics was used as evidence in trial.

YNW Nelly – Murder On My Mind

YNW Nelly has been in prison since 2019. He was charged with the double murder of two other rappers, Christopher Thomas Jr. and Anthony Williams. The same year his two friends were killed, he released his biggest hit to date, Murder On My Mind, which now has over a billion streams.

The lyrics follow YNW Nelly, real name Jamell Maurice Demons, talking about shooting someone who “caught him by surprise”:

I didn’t even mean to shoot him, he just caught me by surprise
I reloaded my pistol, cocked it back, and shot him twice
His body dropped down to the floor and he got teardrops in his eyes

He’s currently waiting for a retrial after his first 2023 trial had a hung jury.

Young Thug – Anybody

What’s with rappers and confessing to crimes in their songs? Young Thug was wrapped up in a gang-racketeering trial from when he was arrested in May 2023 to when he was let go in October last year.

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“I never killed anybody, but I got something to do with that body,” was one of the lyrics prosecutors used in their case against him. He was let out of jail late last year after finally pleading guilty, after a long two-year trial.

Bobby Shmurda – Hot N****

Sometimes, all it takes is one suspicious line. Bobby Shmurda took over summer in 2014 with Hot N****. It’s still his most popular song to date, and has over half a million streams. The rapper, whose real name is Ackquille Pollard, rapped about life in a gang. Although his lyrics were used to add context to his gang activity, they weren’t actually given as evidence – not for him anyway.

The most popular line in his biggest song, “Mitch caught a body about a week ago, week ago,” was used as evidence to put Bobby’s friend, Deshain “Mitch” Crockett, behind bars. Mitch “catching” a body was referring to his attempted murder of a 22-year-old woman bystander. The lyric was used in court to help prove Mitch’s involvement in the case. 

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Featured image via Miramar Police Department./NYPD