R.A. the Rugged Man gives his unfiltered thoughts on the recent controversy surrounding Rick Ross’ lyrics on “U.O.E.N.O” and the hypocrisy displayed toward similar rhymes.
I know this whole Rick Ross controversy will be old fucking news in a few days, but HipHopDX wanted me to address some current shit. And I’ve seen so many hypocrites come out of the woodwork over this Rick Ross rhyme that I figured I’d address it. As everyone in the whole fucking world knows by now, Rick Ross recently dropped a verse with the following line:
“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”
The lyric was unquestionably meant to be offensive and you obviously have the right to be offended by it…BUT, I see a lot of hypocrisy coming from the “outraged” fans and public. These same fans of mainstream music love Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Eminem, and Three Six Mafia, who have all rapped, at one time or another, about raping women. None of you ever stopped supporting any of them.
Hip Hop’s Double Standard Towards Rape Lyrics
Notorious B.I.G. is another example. Biggie was my brother, man, I love the guy. But where was the public outcry when he rapped about his man Gutter kidnapping children, fucking them in their asses and throwing them over the bridge? Glorifying child rape and murder? That lyric alone is far more offensive and depraved than any lyric Rick Ross ever uttered. But Biggie was a cash cow at his peak for Puff Daddy and Bad Boy, and after his untimely death the cash piled up even higher. He had mostly positive publicity and hard-working industry folks behind him, and was respected artistically by his peers…so society let it slide.
In Rick Ross’s case, it appeared that he was nearing the end of his commercial reign. Venues cut down on booking him, he had to cancel tours due to gang threats on his life, Maybach Music Group’s sales have gone down, and his street credibility has continued to deteriorate. Since his career looked like it was in decline, he became disposable to the public, so they made an example out of him. These spineless media outlets don’t want to hurt the reputation of anyone who is still benefiting them. So kick the guy while he’s on his way out…but they had ignored anything negative he did while he was generating tons of money for them. Basically Rick Ross said the “wrong rhyme at the right time.” They build you up, and when they’re done with you, they tear you down. Then they eat off the controversy while they’re doing it. That’s the way of the American media.
Lil Wayne rapes women in his music, and he outsells every rapper on the planet and wins dozens of awards. Why weren’t you protesting his multi million dollar Pepsi endorsement? Eminem constantly rapes women in his lyrics (even his own mother), and he wins Academy Awards, Grammys, VMAs, and every other accolade on the planet. Three Six Mafia raps about rape and they get an Academy Award and a reality show. How about the most powerful man in music: Jay-Z? He is loved, respected and worshipped all over the globe. Is that why he’s allowed to rhyme about raping women and children and no one says anything? (Ironically his “Monster” rhyme, “I rape and pillage your village, women and children” was inspired by my flow and rhyme on “Uncommon Valor.” He never acknowledged it publicly, but shout out to Jay, I know you’re watching.) Mr. Carter has a big endorsement deal with Reebok; the same hypocritical company that dropped Ross. The star-studded list of rape rhyming rappers is long. Shit…pound-for-pound I’ve probably said more foul, horrible, horrendous shit than all of those artists combined, so trust me, I’m not judging any of them. And I’m not saying you should like the rhyme, or agree with the foul imagery certain emcees put out there. I’m just saying don’t be “outraged” by Rick Ross and demand corporations take away his endorsements when you have no problem with other rappers saying the same thing. If you celebrated that Reebok took away Rick Ross’s endorsement, then you should also stop supporting Jay-Z, Biggie, Eminem, and Lil Wayne. Otherwise you’re a complete hypocrite.
And the blame doesn’t just extend to the no-brain mainstream followers; I see it in the underground movement as well. I know underground heads that think Rick Ross should be stomped out for what he said, but at the same time rate Big L as one of the GOATs. For some reason, they never had any issues with Big L “raping nuns” in his lyrics or even raping the Lord Jesus Christ himself. I love Big L, but lets be real: some of L’s lyrics make this controversial Rick Ross rhyme look like Walt Disney.
If I was Rick Ross and my whole persona was that of a big badass boss man, I wouldn’t kiss Reebok’s ass the way he did after they canceled his endorsement. I’d tell Reebok to kiss MY ASS and suck my dick on top of that. Those spineless turds at Reebok knew damn well Rick Ross’s music promoted murder, drugs sales, hatred and genocide of the community before they ever signed him to a deal. But they also knew they could make money off him, so they ignored it. As soon as they caught some heat, the slithering serpents back-peddled.
And I see a lot of heads campaigned for Reebok to drop Ross. That’s just more hypocrisy. When Bill O’Reilly did the same bullshit and tried to get Pepsi to take away Ludacris’s endorsement deal because of misogynistic lyrics, the Hip Hop community crucified him for it, claiming he was a racist white man who hated Hip Hop. That might actually be true…but why is it OK to do the same exact bullshit to Rick Ross? I guess as long as it’s not Bill O’Reilly’s cornball ass doing it then it’s fine?
What’s next? Censoring people’s paintings and photography and all art? If you don’t consider Rick Ross’s music to be art and you think Rick Ross sucks…fine. But if you censor him then you’re no better than book burners in Nazi Germany in the ‘40s. Seriously, censoring something because it offends you? Where does the line stop? Should you ban a movie because there is a rape scene in it? Do you ban Saw because there is gore and torture? If Reebok gave an ultra-violent filmmaker like Quentin Tarantino an endorsement deal, would that be OK? Let me take it back…How come it wasn’t okay for Ice T to make a song called “Cop Killer”…but it was fine for Tarantino to put images of cops being mutilated and tortured with their ears cut off in Reservoir Dogs?
Don’t be a hypocrite. Don’t fall for the double standard. Learn to think for yourself and evaluate the situation before you follow the media’s lead. Before you jump on the bandwagon to take down Rick Ross, take a long look at some of the most offensive lyrics from your own favorite artists. Until then choke on a dick.
R.A. the Rugged Man is an acclaimed Rap veteran whose new album “Legends Never Die” drops on April 30th. R.A.’s been a regular contributor to Vibe, Complex and Mass Appeal magazine as well as landing a book deal with Testify books. R.A. is also the screenwriter and producer of the Cult Film Bad Biology and is working on his directorial debut; a documentary based on the life of his father Staff Sgt. John A Thorburn. Follow him on Twitter via @RAtheRuggedMan .
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