For the latest episode of Apple Music’s The Message, Ebro is joined by music mogul Kevin Liles and United States Congressman Jamaal Bowman of New York. Though they might at face value seem like unlikely bedfellows, Liles and Bowman are working in concert to garner support for the Restoring Artistic Protection Act, or the RAP Act, which would prohibit the use of music lyrics as evidence in court proceedings. Liles and Bowman both claim to owe much to hip-hop, and feel particularly compelled to strike back against a deeply unfair legal practice that has its origins in the ugliest tradition of American history. “The core message that has been a part of my life, and the seed was really planted in me through hip-hop music and culture, is that systemic racism is interwoven in every aspect of American society,” Rep. Bowman says. “And it's on us the people—not just Black people, not just the hip-hop community, but all people who care about justice and equality and freedom and opportunity for everyone—it's on us to push back against that system.” “I think my message is, this freedom-of-speech fight that we're fighting—that I think our culture has been targeted through the whole time—it's not going to just happen by us marching,” Liles adds. “It’s not going to happen by us making one phone call. We have to make passing legislation a way of life with this.” The RAP Act is especially urgent, with Atlanta MC Young Thug having had his lyrics entered into evidence during his YSL RICO case. For their The Message playlist, Liles and Rep. Bowman submitted songs from Johnny Cash, The Kingston Trio, 2Pac and Wu-Tang Clan, music that continues to inspire their fight for freedom of speech. “We've been talking Negro spirituals since we were slaves, and back then they were seen as songs that were against what the system wanted,” Liles says. “You think about Duke Ellington and Billie Holiday—everybody that was targeted back then just because they spoke from a Black point of view. This is not a ‘hip-hop thing’, this is an ‘us’ thing. The criminalisation of art and the criminalisation of Black art specifically is woven into society from its origin. So, to me, that's why I'm with my man Congressman Jamaal Bowman and why we're here today, because I think everybody has something to do.”