S. Samuel
New York rapper Talib Kweli has publicly spoken out against Rick Ross days after the Maybach Music Group leader tried to clarify perceived date rape lyrics off Rocko's "U.O.E.N.O." record.
In Kweli’s perspective, Ross not only refused to apologize but also denied the fact his lyrics encourage sexual assault.
“I don’t care if Rick Ross is 40 years old — he’s a misguided 40-year-old person.” Strong words from Talib Kweli Monday as he addressed the recent controversy over Rick Ross’ rap verse on the song U.O.E.N.O. While Ross seems to have chalked the controversy surrounding his lyrics up to some unspecified “misunderstanding,” many are not buying his explanation. “Rick Ross condoned rape in that song … and he should apologize, and his apology that he offered was unacceptable.” Kweli continued. (Huffington Post)
Last week, the “Boss” publicly spoke out on his lyrics and denied trying to encourage rape.
“I want to make sure this is clear,” Ross said in an interview. “Woman is the most precious gift known to man, you understand? It was a misunderstanding with a lyric, a misinterpretation where the term rape wasn’t used. I would never use the word rape in my records. And as far as my camp, hip-hop don’t condone that, streets don’t condone that. Nobody condones that, you understand me? I just wanted to reach out to all the queens that’s on my timeline, all the sexy ladies, the beautiful ladies that have been reaching out to me about the misunderstanding. We don’t condone rape and I’m not with that.” (Q 93.3)
Despite his comments, there is an online petition demanding Reebok to stop endorsing Ricky Rozay.
Rick Ross’ date-rape-referencing lyrics on rapper Rocko’s song “U.O.E.N.O.” have already sparked online outrage among women’s groups. Now a second wave of petitions is calling for Ross’ endorsement deal with Reebok to be discontinued, in part because “Reebok devotes a lot of time, energy and money to marketing to women.” That’s a statement from Nita Chaudhury, co-founder of anti-sexism collective UltraViolet, who received 51,000 signatures from members, moms and young athletes by Friday morning demanding Reebok drop Rick Ross from an endorsement deal that has already included multiple TV commercials and print campaigns. (Billboard)
Other organizations are simply requesting Ross make an apology.
Though the song’s been out for a month, listeners are just responding to the lyric. The vitriol seemed to rise this week on Twitter and Facebook, among other sites. Still, Change.org is having none of it: “This should be investigated further and he should be prosecuted,” according to a statement on the website. “If it is not true and they are just lyrics, he has still just glorified rape and this should not be ignored.” The petition has 542 supporters so far. (Complex)
To learn more and sign the Reebok/Rick Ross petition, just click here.
