Rick Ross is a Rapist and “You Ain’t Even Know It”

I’m no fan of Rick Ross at all. The one-time corrections officer turned fake drug-dealer, and now self-proclaimed “Bawse,” of the hip hop industry has always rubbed me the wrong way. Yes, Rick Ross’ is to hip hop what Manti Te’o’s girlfriend was to him before she died: he’s fake. But that’s not why I’m writing about Ricky Rozay today. In fact, if anything, Rick Ross has shown us what I think to be his truest colors to date.

On the new song “U.O.E.N.O.” (you ain’t even know it) by Rocko, William Leonard Roberts II let’s the ladies know in no uncertain terms. what he thinks about them. In his verse, the would-be Barry White of the rap game says “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.” I swear, it’s getting harder and harder for a forty-something hip hop fan like myself to defend this garbage. Now, I don’t know about you, but from where I’m sitting, what Ross said sounds like a co-sign on the theft of a vagina. You know, the kind of thing many men are known to go to prison for? Yeah, that’s right, what he says in the song perfectly describes the crime of rape. I think it’s best that you make a mental note that sexual intercourse without consent, is in fact, rape. Yes, write that down if you have to; because, havinfg to explain a rape conviction on a job application can be quite awkward.

Listen to the song:

Quite naturally, I expect many immersed in hip hop culture to be willing to give Officer Ricky a pass on this one (yeah, where y’all at gangsta Disciples?). I’m sure that many would brush this off as “just music,” and nothing to be taken seriously. And why not? After all, it’s kind of hard to see Rick’s lyrics as anything but, when one consumes a heavy diet of misogyny and sexism. For those people, there’s nothing wrong with slipping a drug into the alcoholic beverage of an unsuspecting female companion, and having sex without her consent — you know, the crime commonly known as rape.

But as Britni Danielle wrote over at Clutch Magazine, this dismissal is very problematic:

As a former teacher who spent nearly six years working with young people who consumed every lyric like it was manna from heaven, I can assure you that hyper violent and misogynistic verses are more than “just music.” For some, it’s how they learn how to operate in this world.

[…] The irony of Rick Ross’ pro-date rape lyrics coming on the heels of the Steubenville verdicts, in which an unconscious young woman was indeed raped—and she didn’t even know it—is not lost on me. Neither is the facttwo teenage girls were recently arrested for threatening the victim using rap lyrics, or the revelation that up until the verdict (and perhaps even now), one of the perpetrators still thought he did nothing wrong.

I might be showing my age a bit, but with two daughters in college, this is some scary stuff. Not that the idea of slipping something into the drink of a woman is anything new. But, I don’t remember anyone in popular culture remotely mentioning it with an endorsement much like Rick Ross has on this verse. But with today’s pill-poppin’ youth culture (no seriously, I just found out what a “Molly” really is), I imagine there are many other Steubenville rape cases out there, but with victims afraid to speak up — you know, victims who are silent out of the fear of being blamed.

Yep, ain’t that right, Melissa Harris-Perry?

That said, I suppose it’s easy to see why a man would feel the need, or believe that he has the power to “Beat the pussy up like Emmett Till’s face,” as one sizzurp sippin’ rapper recently did. What’s really sad, however, is the fact that this will blow over without even as much as a “My bad,” from Rick Ross himself. But then again, maybe as a man he sees nothing wrong with raping women; maybe in his head — and that of many other men, and women — that’s just what it means to be a “Bawse”. Hell, it isn’t rape when your favorite rapper says it’s cool to have sex without consent, right? If we are to believe every hood story ever told by Rick Ross, is it beyond reason to believe that he sees nothing wrong with raping women. I’m not trying to slander the brother’s name, but…

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