Rick Ross Replaced by Young Jeezy After Rape Lyrics Spark Backlash
Rick Ross is being taken off of fellow rapper Rocko's song "U.O.E.N.O" after the former's lyrics seemed to condone rape and spark public outrage.
In the song Ross, the 37-year-old rapper from Miami, Fla., speaks about drugging a woman with a drug made popular in the rap industry as of late- molly. After public protests and petitions were sparked, Rocko announced that Ross would be taken off of the song.
Although the song will now replace Ross' lyrics with that of Atlanta rapper Young Jeezy, Rocko said he did not necessarily want to forget about the original version that sparked so much backlash recently.
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"With all respect to the homie Ross … it's a Catch-22. I don't want to take him off," Rocko told New York City radio station Hot 97 on Tuesday. "But one thing that's set in stone is he's always going to be on that song. It doesn't matter who I put on the song, that's going to always be the original version. It's not like I can do another version and call it the original."
Ross' original song sparked a petition and protest from a number of people.
"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.
In one Change.org 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 were made for Ross and his collaborator Rocko to pull the song from airwaves while attempting to hold hip-hop music accountable for its content.
UltraViolet, a community of individuals fighting for women's rights, participated in another protest along with dozens of women who will present thousands of petitions and signs that read, "Hey Reebok-- Want my business? Stop promoting rape. Drop Rick Ross" at the sports apparel flagship store in New York City.
However, Ross 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."
Still some are not convinced that the rapper should be let off the hook so easily. Nita Chaudhary, the co-founder of UltraViolet, explained why Reebok needed to take a stand against Ross.
"In remaining silent, Reebok is using its brand to promote rape," Chaudhary said in a statement released to FitzGibbon Media. "Reebok and Rick Ross have crossed a line- not only does Ross brag about drugging and raping a woman, he is pushing the idea that if you don't use the word 'rape' it doesn't count. We are fed up and disgusted with Reebok, and Thursday we will bring this fight to their front steps."
