By Odeisel
Everyone lies. Some more than others. Sometimes you can tell a lie or get so wrapped up in being someone else that you lose your foothold in reality. William Roberts is drifting dangerously close towards losing himself and much more. We’ve all heard by now that the Gangster Disciples are not too pleased with Ross following his Larry Hoover aspirations and his subsequently rocking that Star of David for his most recent mixtape Black Bar Mitzvah. There have been outright threats to both Ross and his Mayback brethren and shows have been canceled as result. Ross has been conspicuously silent…until now.
Earlier this week, Ross appeared on hometown station 99 Jams in Miami and gave an alternate reason for canceled shows. Here’s the video of that interview:
Regardless of whether you believe him or not or whether he’s speaking the truth or lying to save face, there are a few things to take from this video and lessons that people should take heed to. As Lil JoJo’s family/crew can attest to, and as Biggie and Pac learned the hard way 15 years ago, there is a humongous difference between rapping about being a gangster and actually dealing with gangsters.
Hip-Hop has been dealing with regular talented people aspiring to gangsterhood for ages now, from Boss being exposed as a college girl and having her career destroyed, to other tough talking rappers getting their chains snatched or their cards pulled. Ross himself was put through the wringer after it was revealed to have served as a Corrections Officer years ago. Pictures and everything. What happened is that he prevailed through strong music and a tireless hustle. It doesn’t mean that we believe him, it just means he can rap his ass off.
Rick Ross is popping a lot of shit in this interview, talking about how gangsters move in silence and how no checks are getting cut. We haven’t actually heard from the Chicago GD’s and they are the founding nation, so it remains to be seen whether this beef has legitimate legs on that level, but bullets don’t only get made in Chicago. They are made all over and it would be a shame to see Rick Ross, or Meek Mill or any of their Maybach people get gunned up and clapped quick because Rick Ross was caught up in a persona.
They say overnight success takes 15 years and Rick Ross’ career is much older than his Bawse incarnation. He was Teflon, appearing on Erick Sermon’s Eric Onassis album over a decade ago, and appeared aside Trina long after that in a b-ball jersey flipping phrases and getting busy, but totally not the kingpin menace that would appear years later. He went with the boss persona and it worked. Very well. But when your life is in danger (and maybe it isn’t) you would hope that whatever hole you’re in or corner you’re backed into isn’t stronger than your will to live.
What Rick Ross did in this interview was escalate something that could have been handled behind the scenes into an inciting event. He all but threw down a gauntlet, to whoever is in those videos, to make it real for him. The chopper talk and the sucker talk and putting 1000 gangsters in every hood is a little wild if you’re trying to get something done. It very well could be that these guys aren’t what they say or that Ross has more back than we actually believe. Either way the tough talk could end in bloodshed when it didn’t have to. That these guys have their own t shirts and songs playing in their video doesn’t mean they are fake. The music didn’t save Lil JoJo.
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