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‪This article examines the role of music videos in the prosecution of French rap. We show, firstly, that the clips reconfigure the dynamics of controversies about the rap genre. Secondly, we show that judicial treatment of the images, by interpreting them as visual evidence, brings the prosecution of rap in France close to that of the Anglophone world. The use of images can, however, also strengthen the defense of artistic freedom; by avoiding textualization and by allowing comparison with cinema, we defend an approach to the study of artistic controversies which combines external and internal analyses, taking into account issues of legitimacy and racialization processes as well as the work’s material qualities and the “grips” that these qualities give to actors.‪