Rick Ross has collaborated with female rappers in the past, but he isn’t willing to sign them for one reason.
“I never did it because I always thought I would end up f—— the female rapper and f—— the business up,” he says on “The Breakfast Club” Monday, July 24, which made co-host Charlamagne Tha God burst into laughter. “I’m so focused on my business. I got to be honest with you. She’s looking good, I’m spending so much money on her photo shoots, I got to f— a couple of times.”
Ross was appearing on the show to promote his new R&B and hip hop competition reality series, “Signed,” and co-host Angela Yee asked if he would consider putting female MCs on his Maybach Music Group label. Currently, only male artists like Wale, Meek Mill and Omarion are signed to the Atlantic Records imprint, but Ross has previously done songs with Nicki Minaj, Trina and Remy Ma and competitors on his show include women who will vie for a chance to join MMG.
When Yee asked Ross if he could groom a 17-year-old as a protégé, he agreed.
“Most definitely,” he says. “If she [were] a youngster that I felt was bringing something to the table that dope.”
Twitter users quickly latched onto Ross’ comments, immediately making the connection to the rapper’s controversial verse on “U.O.E.N.O” in 2013: “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,” he rapped in a verse that was later removed the Rocko single.
One commenter’s issues with Ross fall right in line with The Washington Post’s report that women being blamed for sexual assault is a “global and persistent” idea. A 2005 Amnesty International poll in Britain found that more than a quarter of responders thought rape was the woman’s fault if she was wearing sexy clothes. As recently as 2016, singer Erykah Badu spurred criticism when she tweeted that she agreed with a school’s rule that girls wear skirts with low hems to stop boys from being distracted.
"SAYING AN ATTRACTIVE FEMALE ACT WOULD MAKE @rickross "FUCK UP THE BUSINESS" PUTS BLAME ON HER, NOT HIS MISOGYNY … JUST LIKE RAPE CULTURE"
— Known Chomsky (@SteveDiscourse) July 26, 2017
Other Twitter users also noticed the disturbing trend.
.@RickRoss, 2013: "Put Molly all in her champagne"
In 2017: Won't sign a female rapper because he would "end up fucking"END RAPE CULTURE.
— Ernest Owens (@MrErnestOwens) July 26, 2017
https://twitter.com/littleintrovert/status/890195317001474048
https://twitter.com/myTri11Life/status/890041825557393408
