Rick Ross Clarifies Date Rape Lyrics Amid Petition, Backlash From Fans
Rick Ross has recently spoken up concerning the backlash that he received from fans and petitioners who were upset by the Miami, Fla. rapper's most recent lyrics that seemed to condone date rape.
Ross, 37, recently appeared on fellow rapper Rocko's song "You Don't Even Know It." In the song, Ross speaks about drugging a woman with a drug made popular in the rap industry - molly.
"Put molly all in her champagne, she ain't even know it / I took her home and I enjoyed that, she ain't even know it," Ross rapped in the song.
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However, the rapper spoke up about his lyrics being misunderstood after a number of people began to speak out against the song.
"There (are) certain things you can't tweet, you have to verbalize. I want to make sure this is clear, that woman is the most precious gift known to man, you understand," Ross said on New Orleans radio station Q93.3. "It was a misunderstanding with a lyric, a misinterpretation where the term rape wasn't used. I would never use the term rape."
Ross went on to say that he does not condone rape and that he wanted to make that clear to all of his female fans.
In the petition "Rick Ross, Rocko, Maybach Music, and A1 Recordings: Remove 'You Ain't Even Know It' from distribution & publicly denounce rape," which was created by Brittany Packnett, demands are made for Ross and his collaborator Rocko to pull the song from airwaves.
"We demand that Rick Ross, Rocko, Maybach Music Group, and A1 Recordings pull and publicly denounce the song 'You Ain't Even Know It' for its blatant and unapologetic glorification of the drugging and rape of women," the change.org petition states. "Hip Hop music was created to give a voice to the voiceless. Given this history, these labels and their artists should take more seriously their responsibility to lead by example."
Molly, the pure powder or crystal form of MDMA that is known for causing a euphoric effect, has been made popular in rap songs like Kanye West's "Mercy" and Trinidad James' "All Gold Everything."
Jeff Johnson, a motivational speaker and journalist, sounded off on Ross' most recent lyrics in his blog on jeffijohnson.com.
"Rick Ross and so many of the pied pipers of imagery that elevates the worst of us far more than the best are not the root of the problem, they are a symptom. I respect freedom of speech and expression. But I don't have to like nor condone the message," Johnson wrote. "Make your music and your money. No hate. But these messages cannot continue to be made while too many of us stand silent."
Ross said he believed that it was necessary to clarify his stance on the matter after receiving so much public backlash.
"Sometimes I think it's our job as an artist to clarify the sensitive things and the things that we know really need to be clarified, such as a situation as this," Ross told the New Orleans radio station.
