Adam Dunbar Adam Dunbar is Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Nevada, Reno. He earned his B.A. in Psychology and Sociology from the Stanford University and a Ph.D. in Criminology, Law and Society from the University of California, Irvine. He researches the intersection of race/ethnicity and the criminal justice system, focusing specifically on how attitudes about race, culture, and crime can help explain racial disparities in policing and punishment. One set of studies examines how stereotypes about rap music affect evaluations of lyrics and the people that write them.
Bakari Kitwana Bakari Kitwana is an internationally known cultural critic, journalist, activist and political analyst whose commentary on hip-hop, youth culture, and Black political engagement can be heard on a wide range of media outlets. He is CEO of Rap Sessions, an organization that brings hip-hop activists, artists, and scholars to cities across the country. He has published multiple books on rap music and hip-hop culture and also served as an expert witness in multiple cases involving rap lyrics as evidence.
Charis E. Kubrin Charis E. Kubrin is Professor of Criminology, Law and Society and (by courtesy) Sociology at the University of California, Irvine. She researches the intersection of music, culture, and identity, particularly as it applies to hip-hop and minority youth in disadvantaged communities. She is co-author of three amicus briefs on rap music. She has testified as an expert witness in eight criminal cases, including two federal cases, involving rap music as evidence of alleged underlying criminal activity and has consulted on dozens of others.
Jooyoung Lee Jooyoung Lee is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto. He researches how gun violence transforms the social worlds and health of young Black men in different contexts. His first book, Blowin’ Up: Rap Dreams in South Central (University of Chicago Press, 2016), is a long-term ethnographic study of young Black men growing up in the shadows of gang violence and the entertainment industries in Los Angeles. This book shows how hip-hop culture shields young men from the dangers of gang violence. He has served as an expert witness in cases involving rap music lyrics in Canada.
Erik Nielson Erik Nielson is Associate Professor of Liberal Arts at the University of Richmond, where he researches the relationship between hip-hop culture and African American literature. He is co-author of two amicus briefs on rap music that were filed with the U.S. Supreme Court (Elonis v. U.S.; Bell v. Itawamba School Board) and he has served as an expert witness in criminal cases involving rap lyrics as evidence.
Eithne Quinn Eithne Quinn is Professor of Cultural and Socio-Legal Studies in English and American Studies at the University of Manchester, UK. She researches race and class politics, with a particular focus on popular culture and institutional racism. She is author of Nuthin’ but a G Thang: The Culture and Commerce of Gangsta Rap (Columbia University Press, 2005) and A Piece of the Action: Race and Labor in Post-Civil Rights Hollywood (Columbia University Press, 2019), which won the BAAS Prize for Best Book of 2020. She has served as an expert in UK legal cases in which the prosecution has sought to use defendants’ rap lyrics and/or videos as incriminating evidence.