By now, we should all be intimately aware of the many hangups associated with investing too much hope and aspirations into a single hip hop figurehead. Extrapolating from the immortal words of Sir Charles Barkley, these emcees are not role models, just because they can spit a sixteen doesn’t mean they should be raising your sixteen year old. Now this statement would reign true, if this was a perfect world and everything that happened in society took place in a vacuum. Obviously, we don’t live in this nice glass house; instead, majority of us gain our influence from the stars thrust upon our movie screens, television sets, and magazines.
Emcees’ lyrics nuzzle their way into our ears, helping to formulate listeners’ perspective of social interactions, which gives them significant amounts of power. However, this phenomena isn’t always a good thing, as this responsibility has often been overlooked or under appreciated in the ever growing race to turn the most risque topics into popular catch phrases and rhymes. The most recent and flagrant of offenders of this, is without a doubt one of the biggest bosses in the game, Rick Ross.
Last year, Ross’ image and credibility took a major blow, when he boasted about drugging an unsuspecting female suitor and then enjoying the fruits of said labor. In a moment that required complete humility and guilty admission to a grievous mistake, the big body rude boy stood defiant; only offering half hearted apologies once it became clear that his Reebok deal was no longer on the table. Normally, when a businessman, like Ross, see his income shortening, it signals the need for change. Lessons should have been learned, this slip up shouldn’t have happened again: the test was a failure. Yet, it doesn’t seem that it worked out that way, as the Maybach Music Group‘s stalwart leader continues to find his voice uttering offensive material that alienates a large portion of his listeners.
His sixth solo full length, Mastermind, was released last week to mixed reviews; some fans’ saw as a return to his soulful boss rapping persona from Port Of Miami, while others felt it was the same rehashed material from his previous five albums. Whether it was a good album isn’t up for debate, what is however, is his continued blatant misogyny without any remorse.
On one of the most star studded tracks from the LP, “Sanctified,” featuring Kanye West and Big Sean, Ross is delves back into his old bags of tricks. Rhyming, “B****es that I date don’t get degrees, but they can dress/ Felatio’s amazin’, make grilled cheese for you, the best.” If there was book entitled “Misogyny: What To Look Out For”, this line would be grace the front cover. Hip hop, in and of itself, is quite a boys club already, but this line takes it one step further. Pretty much laughing at the thought of starting a relationship with a woman, who may have completed a high level of education; placing his own sexual desires and having an attractive lady on his arms, as the highest station in life for his girlfriends. Why did this even make the final cut?
It is so explicitly misogynistic that it is confusing as to why he even said it. Its not that great of line, it’s just an empty brag, which simultaneously knocks an entire subgroup of women. Ross needs to understand that women do listen to his music, including young girls. People are impressionable and he has to learn to navigate the troubling waters of the music world, without pushing a group down when he comes up to grasp for air. Hopefully, he moves away from this, but if his track record is any indication, Ross is headed for even more trouble.
Jimi (@Nativejimi)
