Talib Kweli: ‘Rick Ross is a Misguided 40-Year-Old’

Rapper Talib Kweli on Monday weighed in on the Rick Ross controversy surrounding his verse on the song U.O.E.N.O.

During a HuffPost Live segment hosted by Marc Lamont Hill, Kweli took issue with Ross’s contention that his line seeming to promote date rape, was simply a “misunderstanding.”

“I don’t care if Rick Ross is 40 years old — he’s a misguided 40-year-old person,”
said Kweli.

“Rick Ross condoned rape in that song … and he should apologize, and his apology that he offered was unacceptable.” Kweli continued.

Ebony Magazine’s News & Life Editor Jamilah Lemieux, Washington Post columnist Rahiel Tesfamariam and activist Rosa Clemente also participated in the segment discussing not only Ross’ lyric, but also the importance of holding hip-hop artists and American communities accountable for not proactively rejecting rape culture or adequately addressing the prevalence of violence against women.

“A lot of what we criticize about hip-hop, we tend to make it black specific, or ghetto specific, or male specific. It’s just an American problem. So you have white men, you have white male politicians who have said things that are very similar to what Rick Ross said,” Lemieux commented.