Drill music is specifically featured as an art form that serves most often as a target of criminal investigations. Watching numerous performances and then seeing how the very industry is criminalized and its most prominent performers closely watched and punished is deeply unsettling. An arrest not resulting in extensive jail time is still highly damaging and negatively transformative, and each case shapes a new precedent that allows for the perpetration of another such pursuit of supposed criminal activity.<\/span><\/p>\n In addition to its showcase of artists who have needed to occupy their time with with either preemptively or remedially defending their creative intentions, this film contains interviews with a handful of legal authorities for whom this is their daily work. They\u2019re well aware of the history of this particular brand of criminal justice, as well as changes and trends that have led to this moment. They\u2019re well-versed in what the law actually says and have watched with concern as the rap industry in particular has been villainized and then set up as a place where people expect there to be some sort of malicious activity at play.<\/span><\/p>\n There is an inherent and unsubtle undercurrent of racism within all of this that is not lost on the artists and legal scholars interviewed. The idea that violence in certain communities by association implicates all people with the same skin color or that music with potentially offensive lyrics leads in turn to violence is broad and inaccurate, and it\u2019s a self-perpetuating system. The film includes a tribute to the staggering high number of rappers who have lost their lives in recent years, but their music is emphasized as an outlet for creativity, rather than something that only fuels more volatility.<\/span><\/p>\n Director J.M. Harper\u2019s past credits include\u00a0 <\/span>Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy<\/i><\/b>, and he has previously explored other subjects related to what it means to be Black in America. His latest film breaks down the dangerous potential of preconceived notions, looking at how those ideas came to be popular and how they are only applied to a selective population. <\/span>As We Speak<\/i><\/b> doesn\u2019t have all the answers but does spotlight the crucial work being done to enshrine protections for artists that both cover their free speech and shield them from the possibility of their artistic work being misappropriated against them. It\u2019s certainly a challenging, uphill battle, one whose progress is dependent most on the ability of people to open their minds to what they\u2019ve learned that may not be correct.<\/span><\/p>\n Grade: B+<\/b><\/p>\n Check out more of Abe Friedtanzer\u2019s articles<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"As](\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/As-We-Speak-2.jpg\")