{"id":86490,"date":"2026-08-26T14:20:41","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T14:20:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/hiphopmagizine\/brian-steels-mission-to-protect-hip-hop-from-the-justice-system\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T14:20:41","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T14:20:41","slug":"brian-steels-mission-to-protect-hip-hop-from-the-justice-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/hiphopmagizine\/brian-steels-mission-to-protect-hip-hop-from-the-justice-system\/","title":{"rendered":"Brian Steel&#8217;s Mission to Protect Hip-Hop From the Justice System"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt Hip Hop Magizine News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"9431463036\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">Fight The Power<\/span><br \/>Renowned criminal defense attorney\u00a0Brian Steel feels authorities unjustly target hip-hop culture. So for his clients, he stands on business with poise and passion.<br \/><em>Interview:\u00a0Joey Echevarria<\/em><br \/><em><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\">Editor\u2019s Note: This story appears in the\u00a0Summer 2026 issue of XXL Magazine, on newsstands\u00a0now and available for sale on the XXL website.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Brian Steel\u00a0has spent his entire adult life relentlessly standing behind the Sixth Amendment\u2014the right to a fair trial. Incensed by corruption within the criminal justice system, the 61-year-old criminal defense attorney has been an essential ally for 35 years to clients he feels are wrongly accused. After handling the two most high-profile cases in the culture\u2019s history, the Atlanta-based lawyer is now considered a hero by the hip-hop game.<\/p>\n<p>Raised in Queens, N.Y., Brian initially studied business at the University of Michigan before switching his focus to tax law by the end of the 1980s. Later, while attending Fordham University School of Law, a harrowing in-court experience changed Brian\u2019s career path forever: after seeing a teenager convicted of murder, the advocate felt he had no choice but to help people stay out of prison.<\/p>\n<p>After college, Brian moved to Atlanta, where he passed the Georgia bar and began his career as a public defender. By 1997, Brian and his wife, Colette, started their practice, The Steel Law Firm, P.C. In the decades since, Brian has fought for clients from downtrodden communities and represented powerful officials, earning him national respect as a criminal defense attorney.<\/p>\n<p>For those reasons, it\u2019s no surprise that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.xxlmag.com\/tags\/young-thug\/\" target=\"_blank\">Young Thug<\/a> sought out Brian while Thug was a rising star in Atlanta\u2019s rap scene of the 2010s. Years later, by the time of the 2023-2024 YSL RICO case, Brian was determined to keep his close friend and longtime client out of prison for life. After the year-long trial concluded, Brian succeeded: Young Thug accepted a plea deal in 2024, receiving a sentence commuted to time served and 15 years on probation.<\/p>\n<p>Less than a year after Young Thug\u2019s trial ended, Brian was hand-picked by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.xxlmag.com\/tags\/diddy\/\" target=\"_blank\">Diddy<\/a> in April 2025. Diddy wanted Brian on his legal team as the former Bad Boy mogul faced federal sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution charges. As in the Thug case, Brian believed Diddy was wrongly accused. He saw the charges as an attempt to bring down a hip-hop icon.<\/p>\n<p>Brian remains dissatisfied with the outcome. Still, he and Diddy\u2019s attorneys convinced the jury to convict Sean Combs only on much lesser counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. This past March, Brian joined <a href=\"https:\/\/www.xxlmag.com\/tags\/lil-durk\/\" target=\"_blank\">Lil Durk<\/a>\u2019s legal team. Durk is facing life in prison if convicted of paying five men to travel to California to murder rap rival Quando Rondo in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>On a late afternoon, just hours before enjoying Thanksgiving dinner with his family this past November, and again in early June, Brian joined <em>XXL<\/em> via Zoom from his Georgia home. The loyal and empathetic conqueror of injustice discussed his deep connection to Young Thug, Brian\u2019s belief that notable figures in hip-hop are unfairly targeted by authorities, Drake paying homage to him on wax, his conviction that Diddy is on the road to redemption, Lil Durk&#8217;s trial and more.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>XXL<\/em>: What is it about rap music and hip-hop culture that you gravitate to both personally and professionally?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Brian Steel: I\u2019m a big fan of the music and the artists. I\u2019m just a huge fan of Jeffery [Young Thug] and other people that I\u2019ve met, unfortunately, through my profession. As far as intersecting with the criminal justice system, it is clear that people in hip-hop are getting targeted all across our country by prosecutors.<\/p>\n<p>Whether it\u2019s lyrics, tattoos, the clothing, the frame of speech without it even being a lyric, just something somebody would send in a text message; it is so wrong. Prosecutors, judges, police officers and agents have unleashed themselves to go after people in this industry. What they\u2019ve done, it is racist.<\/p>\n<p>The majority of people in hip-hop come from lower-income areas and they\u2019re minorities, and what I\u2019ve found is that if I leave my house with tattoos all over my face and my arms, and I\u2019m wearing a shirt that says, \u201cF the police,\u201d nobody bothers me. No one\u2019s stopping me. Then, all you\u2019ve got to do is make the person a person of color in any neighborhood, and they are getting tackled.<\/p>\n<p>If they\u2019re playing rap music from their cars, they are getting stopped over and over again. And then when you get arrested, the reports are this person was a danger to the community, too much loud noise. They were looking in windows of houses. It\u2019s not true. It\u2019s just targeting.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Do you feel that Young Thug was targeted by authorities?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>He is a perfect example. He\u2019d be driving a car; I\u2019m getting a phone call, he\u2019s in jail somewhere. He\u2019d be getting on a plane, and out of all the people on that plane, he\u2019s the one that has to get off and get arrested. His house is the house that gets searched and kicked in, and there\u2019s 150 agents surrounding the house with helicopters.<\/p>\n<p>I would have quit if I lost his trial. Jeffery is arrested, and they want him to die in prison. They want to take all of his wealth and make all of his music out to be gang-related, murder-related, really ruin his reputation. I knew there was a way to win his case because I was around him so long. I knew he wasn\u2019t doing this. I had been to his studios before, I know his management. \u201cHe\u2019s doing lyrics to tell people go kill people,\u201d I knew this was not true. What a corrupt trial.<\/p>\n<p><strong>In what specific ways do you feel the trial was corrupt?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>He knew the prosecutors were lying; the judge was permitting the lies to go forward. It was really bad. They gave us a witness list. They gave us 800 people. They just inflated by 600 people. I interviewed everyone who would talk to me and I\u2019m learning like, \u201cYeah, I interviewed for the prosecutor, and I told them this&#8230;\u201d Well, that\u2019s good for my client, but they didn\u2019t give it to me. The law says you\u2019ve got to give over information that is good for the client. The judge would do nothing about it. That doesn\u2019t make sense. You\u2019re encouraging misconduct on the prosecutorial.<\/p>\n<p><strong>At one point during the YSL RICO Trial, you were held in contempt for refusing to disclose how you learned about an ex parte meeting between the judge, prosecutors and key witness Lil Woody. The charge was ultimately overturned. Do you ever hold any resentment toward the judicial system in instances like that?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Not really. I don\u2019t care about me, but I harbor resentment that we treat people the way we do. I didn\u2019t care if I stayed in jail to die. The truth has to come out. You\u2019ve got to give people a place to go and have fairness, and that was lacking in Jeffery\u2019s case with the first judge. Because of that, I think that Jeffery\u2019s a hero because he did not buckle.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Back in March, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted a motion filed by Lil Durk asking the court to replace his then-attorney with you. What role will you serve on Durk\u2019s legal team?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s going to be a re-indictment, as we\u2019re speaking, that comes out in a couple of days. Maybe even today. So, we\u2019ll see where that lands, but it\u2019ll be a team effort.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Without violating any sort of client privilege, is there anything you can share regarding the case or an overall statement you can provide for us?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I usually don\u2019t do official statements, and it\u2019s a pending case, but he\u2019s innocent. He\u2019s not guilty of these charges, but we will deal with whatever the government wants to bring.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Many people within hip-hop culture consider you a hero. Do you view yourself that way?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>No, I don\u2019t view myself as anything. I was a small part of bringing out the truth of the criminal justice system, and we can change it. If this has roots, which I believe it does, and the next generation and the current generation and the judges will say, \u201cWe\u2019re not doing that,\u201d then I am happy to be a part of it. You would do the same.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Was Young Thug your first client in the hip-hop space?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>With client privilege, I can\u2019t tell you because we got the case dismissed. So, we never went public, but Jeffery and I have known each other for something like 15 years. We did a lot of cases, and we won every case before his most recent case.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What first led you to take on Young Thug as a client?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I was on trial, and I got a phone call from his manager who said, \u201cJeffery Williams only wants you, and he needs you for this case.\u201d So, I was honored to meet with him, and I represented him in the first case, and PTI [Pre-trial Intervention], some program got it dismissed. It worked out well, and I got to know him.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s serious when you represent somebody. You\u2019ve got to really walk in their shoes. So, I got close to Jeffery because of that, and then he keeps getting arrested, wrongly arrested. All these cases are dismissed, and he keeps get- ting stronger. He\u2019s getting more management. He\u2019s getting more people around him. Then at some point, it was like, \u201cWhatever you need, we\u2019re with you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>How do you view Young Thug as a person and as an artist?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>To me, he is America. You took a guy who\u2019s been shot twice. He went foodless. He went without an education. He was freezing cold. He was burning hot. He\u2019s never been told, \u201cI believe in you.\u201d That\u2019s the guy who now performs in front of 300,000 people. How do you not love Jeffery Williams? How do you not look at him and say, \u201cHe is a role model.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>In April of 2025, you joined Diddy\u2019s legal team in his federal sex trafficking case. How did that come about?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sean\u2019s management team called shortly before trial. He has great lawyers, and I\u2019m like, \u201cYou don\u2019t need me,\u201d and they said, \u201cHe wants you.\u201d So, I get permission from his lawyers. I fly up to Brooklyn, I meet with him, and I knew Sean Combs. I don\u2019t know him like I know Jeffery, but I knew who Sean Combs was. What matters is people and talent and energy and fun. So, I loved the Sean Combs I knew.<\/p>\n<p>I meet him, and it\u2019s attorney-client privilege, but it was very impactful for me. He asked me to join his team. I met with the team, and I was honored to do it. Don\u2019t look at the allegations, the accusations, look beyond it. I just sat there with Sean and I said, \u201cIf this is what you want, I will do it.\u201d I moved to New York, and the team there was great.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Did you view the verdict as a win for Diddy and the legal team?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I was not happy with the result because I believed that Sean was totally overcharged. The jury did acquit him of sex trafficking and RICO, but he was convicted of what I think is prostitution. He got sentenced as if he coerced people into prostitution. I didn\u2019t appreciate that at all. I want people to go home and, Sean Combs, he carries it with him.<\/p>\n<p>He said it at sentencing; He looks in the mirror every day and asks why did I do that and how do I change? I mean, no one has to punish him. He gets it. He laid his hands on women; violently laid his hands on women. That will never change in his mind or anyone\u2019s. He\u2019s not trying to change anyone\u2019s mind. But to say that the sex wasn\u2019t consensual is not a truthful statement. That was proven.<\/p>\n<p>The prosecutors had no right to bring those types of charges against them. It was obvious to everybody. It was obvious to them. You know, you go from Jeffery to Sean, and you just see this pattern. It\u2019s just misconduct. It\u2019s selling people a lie.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How did you feel when Drake released a song last year titled \u201cBrian Steel?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It was fun! You know, who gets those gentlemen, those great artists, to talk about you? I know Drake. I\u2019ve spoken with him before. He\u2019s a very, very nice man. So, I was thrilled. I thought it was all just funny.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Did you know about the song before it was released?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>No. Somebody in the media called me and said, \u201cWhat do you think about this?\u201d I had no idea what they were talking about.<\/p>\n<p><strong>After all the hip-hop-related moments you\u2019ve been involved with, do fans of Young Thug, Diddy or even Drake ever approach you?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yeah, yeah. I meet people who recognize me sometimes, and even after the picture, I tell them the same thing. There\u2019s no need to take a picture with me. I should be asking to take a picture with you, and I\u2019m honored to meet with you.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not about somebody taking a picture or doing a song with my name on it. If we could change the attitude of even one person, we would possibly save somebody from going to prison, unnecessarily.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What\u2019s the most important piece of advice you give to your clients who are under such a magnifying glass in the public\u2019s eye?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>What do you want to see for your children? It\u2019s the same answer all the time. What they want is, \u201cI want my child to be a doctor, a lawyer, go to school and be educated. If they want to become a rapper, that\u2019s fine, but their vocabulary will be much bigger. They\u2019ll understand how to use phrases. If they want to be an athlete, that\u2019s fine, but they have to understand how to communicate. That\u2019s what I want.\u201d Then, what we do is we say, \u201cGreat. No drugs, no guns, no violence, no gangs and let\u2019s get educated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Brian Steel&#8217;s interview in the\u00a0<em>2026 XXL Freshman issue is\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/shop.xxlmag.com\/collections\/magazines\/products\/xxl-magazine-freshman-class-2026-issue\" target=\"_blank\">available to purchase\u00a0here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em>In addition to interviews with the 2026 XXL Freshman Class and DJ Drama, there are also conversations with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.xxlmag.com\/t-i-interview-album-comedy\/\" target=\"_blank\">T.I.<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.xxlmag.com\/swae-lee-interview-hip-hop\/\" target=\"_blank\">Swae Lee<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.xxlmag.com\/sexyy-red-interview-hip-hop\/\" target=\"_blank\">Sexyy Red<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.xxlmag.com\/young-m-a-interview-album\/\" target=\"_blank\">Young M.A<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.xxlmag.com\/diamond-interview\/\" target=\"_blank\">Diamond*<\/a>, Cash Cobain, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.xxlmag.com\/skilla-baby-interview\/\" target=\"_blank\">Skilla Baby<\/a>, Lil Tjay and more, plus a look back at what the 2025 XXL Freshman Class has been doing and explore the cultural impact of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.xxlmag.com\/2016-xxl-freshman-class-legacy\/\" target=\"_blank\">2016 XXL Freshman Class<\/a> and where its members are today.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><h2 class=\"photogallery-title\">See 2026 <em>XXL<\/em> Freshman Class<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script src=\"https:\/\/www.xxlmag.com\/rest\/carbon\/api\/scripts.js?mver=626&#038;gver=10&#038;bid=812&#038;urls[]=https%3A%2F%2Fbtloader.com%2Ftag%3Fo%3D5642230212591616%26upapi%3Dtrue&#038;urls[]=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.p-n.io%2Fpushly-sdk.min.js%3Fdomain_key%3DLT1Yn2pW9B5QzH6n4H2YlkQyVEfXVOOu82lt&#038;urls[]=https%3A%2F%2Ftownsquare.media%2Fpublic%2Fresources%2Fjs%2Fpubcid.min.js&#038;urls[]=https%3A%2F%2Fplatform.twitter.com%2Fwidgets.js&#038;urls[]=https%3A%2F%2Fapis.google.com%2Fjs%2Fplatform.js&#038;urls[]=https%3A%2F%2Fconnect.facebook.net%2Fen_US%2Fsdk.js&#038;urls[]=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.pinterest.com%2Fjs%2Fpinit.js&#038;urls[]=https%3A%2F%2Fpub.doubleverify.com%2Fdvtag%2F29287203%2FDV1106009%2Fpub.js\" type=\"text\/javascript\" async defer data-osano=\"ESSENTIAL\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt Hip Hop Magizine News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"9431463036\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fight The PowerRenowned criminal defense attorney\u00a0Brian Steel feels authorities unjustly target hip-hop culture. So for his clients, he stands on<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":86491,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[39,108],"class_list":["post-86490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-news","tag-xxl-magazine"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Brian Steel&#039;s Mission to Protect Hip-Hop From the Justice System - Hip Hop News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In a new interview with XXL, attorney Brian Steel, who represented Young Thug, Diddy and now Lil Durk, discusses protecting hip-hop from the justice system.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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