Afroman Couldn’t Have Won His Case in Europe

There is a war going on, oil prices are rushing up and down, and elections are being held. In all that chaos, it is likely that many Americans – and most Europeans – overlooked the civil suit against the rapper known as Afroman and his victory in said suit. It is possible that most Europeans do not even know who Afroman is, though they may know some of his songs. But they should know about this case, because it underlines a tragic reality: That Afroman could never have won his case in Europe.

In 2022, Afroman’s house was raided by local police on a warrant for narcotics and kidnapping. While the rapper made himself famous with songs about getting high, he was never a drug pusher and had zero involvement with kidnapping. The police, however, ransacked his house, caused tens of thousands of dollars in damages, and seized $5,000; when the money was returned, $400 were missing.

The rapper, though $400 short, did have access to two other things: Video recordings of the raid from his home security system and the power of his pen. He utilized both, writing an album dedicated to making fun of the individual officers who raided his home; music videos for some of the songs, such as “Lemon Pound Cake” – which mocked one officer for seeming interested in eating Afroman’s cake during the raid – used footage of the raid, and received tens of millions of views.