OTTAWA — The cancellation of his Ottawa show may be the least of Rick Ross’ problems now that a New York-based women’s group is pressuring footwear maker Reebok to drop the American rapper over controversial lyrics that glorify date rape.
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The 37-year-old Florida rapper was supposed to roll into the capital city on Tuesday for a concert at the Ernst & Young Centre, but “security concerns” prompted the show’s promoter, Urban Jamz Ent., to pull the plug on Friday.
Tickets had ranged in price from $20 for students to $500 for VIP access.
It remains unclear how much the rapper, who escaped unharmed from a drive-by shooting in January, stands to earn even though the show has been cancelled and full refunds are being issued.
Ross’ scheduled appearance created a storm of controversy on campus as many reacted strongly to what they saw as the promotion of rape culture.
Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images
At issue are his lyrics in his cameo on the new Rocko track, U.O.E.N.O. (You Ain’t Even Know It).
“Put molly all in the champagne / you dont even know it /I took her home and I enjoy that / she aint even know it,” Ross raps in the song.
Molly is a form of MDMA and is known as a date-rape drug.
Ross has denied that his lyrics promote rape but he has not otherwise explained what he meant.
“I think they are definitely over their heads,” said Dillon Black, a Carleton social work student who resigned from the student union over the Ross affair.
“I imagine them hiding in their offices and not answering to anyone.”
Black never saw the contract, but says organizers were rumoured to be paying Ross between $100,000 to $250,000. Organizers were also apparently paying for sound and light equipment, technicians and promotion, Black said.
Black also disputes CUSA’s attempt to distance itself from the controversy late last month by suggesting its role was simply purchasing a block of tickets to sell to Carleton students at cost.
Since 2007, student associations at Carleton and the University of Ottawa have collaborated on an end-of-year concert dubbed Pandamonium.
But the Student Federation at the University of Ottawa pulled out this year once the decision was made to include Ross.
He wasn’t an artist the SFUO could support, said Ethan Plato, the federation’s president.
The SFUO objected to hiring an outside promoter to organize the event instead of co-producing it, as had happened in years past.
It also took issue with the promotion of what many dub “rape culture.”
The phrase is used to describe a culture in which rape and sexual violence are common and in which prevalent attitudes, norms, practices and media coverage normalize, trivialize or even condone rape by blaming victims or constantly objectifying women.
A recent example of this phenomenon came when several CNN journalists were called out for their coverage of a high-profile rape case involving a 16-year-old Ohio girl after expressing on-air sympathy for the two men found guilty.
News of the concert’s cancellation came a day after activists gathered outside of Reebok’s flagship store in Manhattan to pressure the company to drop Ross.
“By holding him up as something to aspire to, Reebok is sending the message that raping a woman is cool — and that’s a dangerous message to send the boys and young men that Reebok markets to. Reebok needs to know that we won’t stand for this,” said the anti-sexism group Ultra Violet.
It organized Thursday’s protest and has gathered more than 70,000 signatures on an online petition.
The Billboard chart-topping artist isn’t helping his own cause, appearing tone deaf to the backlash.
According to The Guardian newspaper, Ross told a New Orleans radio station this week that there had been a “misunderstanding” and “misinterpretation.”
“The term ‘rape’ wasn’t used,” The Guardian quoted him as saying.
“You know I would never use the term rape in my records … I just wanted to reach out to all the … sexy ladies, all the beautiful ladies that had been reaching out to me with the misunderstanding: we don’t condone rape and I’m not with that.”
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