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An Underground Hero Spreads the Word
Danger Mouse Liaison
The kid called Danger Mouse has had his share of good luck recently as his now-classic The Grey Album, that ill combo of Jay-Z's The Black Album and the Beatles' The White Album, has catapulted him into rarified air unheard of by an unsigned producer. While skillfully avoiding lawsuits (by not enjoying any monetary fruits of his labor), he has used those "200+ hours in two weeks" to the verge of a major label deal and the accompanying money. Now, however he is using his renown to publicize the case of a kid who was jailed under some old school Southern justice.
The facts are this: in 2003, Marcus Dixon, an 18-year-old (Black) Honors student from Rome, GA was accused of rape by a (White) classmate, who was a few months short of her 16th birthday.
The trial's jury, in opining that the sex was consensual, returned "not guilty" verdicts on all rape and use of force. However, the prosecutor then added the charge of child molestation since the girl was under 16, even though no school boy or girl has ever been charged with child molestation of a classmate less than three years his or her junior in the state's history.
Dixon was found guilty of the charge and sentenced to a mandatory 10 years in prison. Marcus, whose football talent and a 3.96 GPA had eared him a full scholarship to Vanderbilt University, has already served more than a year of the sentence (Please go to www.act4justice.com for more info and how you can help.)
Along with lyricist Murs, Danger Mouse recorded a cover version of the '60s group the Free Design track "To a Black Boy," while Murs changed the lyrics to reflect a letter to Dixon. This song will appear on The Free Design Redesigned Volume 2 to be released on Light In The Attic Records.
"The people that will buy this record may not be aware of this story, and I think it's important that people know about this," says Danger Mouse. "It may not change the situation, but a lot of messed up things happen and people don't bother to do anything, so hopefully this will get the word out a bit more"
- Tony Gervino
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