Rappers Step Up, Try & Save Man From Death Penalty In Texas

Travis Scott and over 30 artists filed a Supreme Court brief opposing prosecutors’ use of rap lyrics in a capital murder case.

Travis Scott joined more than 30 artists and scholars backing a Texas death row inmate whose execution date approaches next month.

James Broadnax, 37, faces lethal injection in Huntsville after prosecutors used his handwritten rap lyrics to secure his death sentence in 2009.

Dallas appellate attorney Chad Baruch filed an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, arguing that prosecutors weaponized Broadnax’s artistic expression to paint him as a threat.

The filing, supported by Killer Mike, Young Thug, T.I., Anthony Anderson, and Kevin Liles, contends that using rap as evidence violated his constitutional rights.

“Rap lyrics are creative expression,” Baruch said in a statement. “When prosecutors treat them as literal evidence of future violence, they invite jurors to decide a death-penalty case based on fear and stereotypes instead of the law.”

Broadnax was condemned for the 2009 deaths of Stephen Swan and Matthew Butler outside a Garland music studio. He was 19 at the time.

According to court records, he and an accomplice planned to rob the men but left with only $2 and a 1995 Ford.

The prosecution introduced more than 40 pages of Broadnax’s lyrics during the punishment phase of his trial. Jurors reviewed the material twice, including hours before voting to sentence him to death instead of life without parole.

Among the verses prosecutors read aloud were lines about violence and threats that they claimed showed he posed a continuing danger to society.

During closing arguments, a prosecutor told jurors that Broadnax’s freestyle written from jail proved he was a “psychopathic killer.” The brief argues this interpretation ignored the metaphorical nature of rap music and relied on racial stereotypes about Black artists.

Broadnax previously argued that prosecutors used race to strike jurors, leaving him with a nearly all-white jury. He also contested the admission of his lyrics as evidence, claiming they lacked any connection to the actual crimes.

According to reporting by The Dallas Morning News, the brief represents the latest chapter in a national debate over the use of rap music in courtrooms.

The Supreme Court has not yet decided whether to hear Broadnax’s case, but the filing marks a significant moment in efforts to prevent rap lyrics from being used as evidence in capital proceedings.

Broadnax’s execution is scheduled for April 30, 2026.

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