Professor Naomi Waltham-Smith's Project Awarded Highly Competitive Funding

Professor Naomi Waltham-Smith, Director of Research in the Faculty of Music and Douglas Algar Tutorial Fellow at Merton College, University of Oxford, is leading a project addressing the misuse of musical expression in the criminal justice system. This collaboration with law-reform charity JUSTICE, local youth work organization United Borders, and other researchers has been awarded highly competitive funding under the AHRC's Locally Unlocking Culture through Inclusive Participation Scheme.

In an expert comment piece, Professor Waltham-Smith argues that the justice system must exercise far greater caution in its use of rap and drill as criminal evidence, warning that misinterpretation can reinforce racial stereotyping and lead to miscarriages of justice, with knock-on adverse impacts on young people’s cultural participation. An Insights Paper co-authored with JUSTICE captures the experiences of community organisations, youth practitioners, creative professionals, legal experts, academic expert witnesses, and experts by experience shared in a workshop funded by an Oxford Policy Engagement Network Leaders Award.

The newly funded project, A New Hearing for Rap, addresses how the criminalisation of rap threatens to undermine the positive role that such music-making plays in the lives of young people in marginalised urban communities. Young participants will lead peer‑to‑peer insight‑gathering and use creative multimedia storytelling to share their findings. As co‑lead United Borders notes, the project aims “to centre the voices of young people in shaping more inclusive legal and cultural frameworks.” Training workshops with legal professionals will deepen understanding of rap as a musical genre and promote more informed engagement with this type of evidence. The Crown Prosecution Service has welcomed the initiative, stating that “this collaboration has the potential to enable prosecutors and judges to approach this kind of evidence with greater clarity and confidence.”

Leadership team: Professor Naomi Waltham-Smith ( University of Oxford, and Oxford Policy Engagement Network (OPEN)), Dr Lambros Fatsis (City St George’s, University of London), Dr Yusef B. (De Montfort University), Adèle Oliver (Independent), Emma Snell (JUSTICE), Justin Finlayson (United Borders)