Hasson Hedgepeth’s, a.k.a. Young Bo, profile picture on Soundcloud; Photo: Young Bo/Soundcloud

A questionable rapper who’s on trial for murder now has to answer for his lyrics, which allegedly rap about killing someone, according to The Mercury News.

The 22-year-old Bay Area man, Hasson Hedgepeth aka Young Bo, is on trial for killing a 19-year-old man and attempted murder of another man during a cough syrup deal in 2013.

Cough syrup typically has codeine in it, which as you may know, when combined with soda, has been a drug of choice within many circles of the hip-hop community over the years, apexing with Three Six Mafia‘s “Sippin’ on Some Sizzurp;” [LISTEN].

“Young Bo” is Hedgepeth’s rapper name, and the prosecution is stating he’s bragging about killing someone in a 10-minute song called “Freestylin Loaded,” available on his Soundcloud:

Yes, I got some bodies under my belt

And later in the song:

Yes I dealt him, yes you felt it

Hedgepeth could make the argument that it’s just a song and he’s just rapping about fictional situations. That is, if he hadn’t said in his other song that everything he raps about is totally real.

“Everything I say is real though, this is the (stuff) I’m really going through, though,” he raps. “…I don’t just rap this (expletive because) I know how to rap. I can’t come up with no (expletive) like that, come on now.”

Young Bo said he “regrets” shooting those men, but, he said, the 19-year-old whom he killed was acting aggressively and suddenly “rushed him.” He said he shot him in self-defense.

Although you’ve probably never heard of Young Bo, he’s not the first rapper to be accused of murder. He’s in the company of Snoop Dogg, who was acquitted in 1996, Gucci Mane, whose case was dropped due to insufficient evidence, and Cassidy, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 11 to 23 months in prison.

Meanwhile, since those high profile cases, there’s a growing trend in the courtroom to use lyrics as evidence, of which Hedgepeth, guilty or not, is now a member of, blurring the line between free speech and art.

In a tipping point moment back in December of 2014, Run the Jewels‘ Killer Mike penned an op-ed in USA Today calling for an examination of the Orwellian line we’re toeing as a society, and how the hip-hop community is singled out unfairly.

This isn’t to proclaim/defend Hedgepeth’s innocence. Though, not a lot of legal strides have been made since Killer Mike’s statement, and perhaps artists are going to need to examine their lyric sheet with a little more scrutiny, before the courtroom does it for them.

Listen to “Freestylin Loaded” below: