Warning: graphic content
Rick Ross put his foot in his mouth when addressing why he’s never signed any female talent.
While promoting his VH1 music competition series, “Signed,” on Power 105.1’s “Breakfast Club,” the rapper and label exec explained why he hasn’t signed any female rappers to his Maybach Music Group: “You know, I never did it because I always thought, like, I would end up f–king a female rapper and f–king the business up.
“I just I gotta be honest, she looking good. I’m spending so much money on her photo shoots. I gotta f–k a couple times.”
This certainly isn’t the first time Ross’ controversial comments have landed him in hot water. In 2013, he issued an apology after releasing a song which seemed to condone date rape. In the song, titled “U.O.E.N.O,” Ross raps: “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.” Molly, commonly called ecstasy, is a powerful form of the psychoactive drug MDMA.
While it’d be easy to pass off Ross’ recent statement as a joke, the comment highlights a longstanding mentality in the male-dominated music business that views women merely as sexual objects rather than their equals, ultimately hurting their careers.
“It’s a male domain, and the theme, the images, the styles, the outlooks and perspectives have been driven by men,” author and University of Pennsylvania humanities professor Michael Eric Dyson, who has written extensively about hip-hop, once told Reuters.
“The success of women [rappers] has suffered as a result of the prerogative of men to set the standards for what’s acceptable and not acceptable in hip-hop and, quite frankly, to set the rules of the game as to what lyrics, what styles and what genres will be most popular,” Dyson said. “So, it has been difficult for women to fit in.”
Dyson’s opinion was echoed nearly a decade later by Nicki Minaj’s former manager, Debra Antney. “Women are viewed differently because we cost more money, number one,” she told Vice in 2014. “A guy could look like Cyclopes’ twin and get up there and make it. He just throws on a T-shirt and some jeans and he’s fly. For us, it’s the whole glam squad — the hair, the makeup — all these things that you have to have.”
What are your thoughts on Ross’ comments regarding female rappers? Sound off in the comment section below.
