Rick Ross has been getting a pretty bad rap (pun intended) lately with heated controversy over some more than questionable lyrics about ‘enjoying’ date rape in Rocko’s track U.O.E.N.O. The situation has culminated in the removal of Ross as a representative for Reebok after 72 000 people signed a petition urging the sportswear brand to do so. Whilst Twitter is a generally approved medium for celebrities to reach out to the public, Ross’s basic apology has failed to address the seriousness of his lyrics. (Internet etiquette tip: If you want to sound sincere, steer clear of hashtags. #forreal)

Reebok released the statement: “While we do not believe that Rick Ross condones sexual assault, we are very disappointed he has yet to display an understanding of the seriousness of this issue or an appropriate level of remorse.”

The escalation of these events and Reebok’s decision to ditch Ross has got everyone pretty fired up. Is this a social trend that will see the censorship of every offensive rapper in the big league? It’s pretty srs business when repercussions of lyrics are real world punishment for artists. We’ve seen a lot of this kind of stuff before in the art world, but with a genre that’s typically built on bad behaviour the line between fantasy and reality is somewhat more hazy. Ross is yet to comment on the split.

Lorna Stewart-Thornton