RIGHTEOUS THEFT

Steal from this man.

Criminal court proceedings involving rappers have become depressingly common in recent times rendering pronouncements that an MC likely will be spending significant time as a government slave, mundane to audiences likely to be alerted of them.

Luckily for (those not being sued) us, there was recent ruling in civil court that should be very intriguing to Hip Hop fans, rather they be of the ardent or fleeting variety.

No I’m not referencing the odd but interesting lawsuit Lord Finesse brought against Mac Miller a few weeks back. The civil matter in question deals with a Hip Hop entity with an even larger identity than the youthful Burgh star.

Rick Ross has been ubiquitous in the world of mainstream coke rap since he dropped the audacious “Hustling” in 2006. Via hard work, precise calculation, and most importantly, the creation of quality music, Ross has steadily ascended in fame over the past six years.

Ross will drop 2012’s most anticipated album outside of anything associated with Kanye West next week and has, at least symbolically reached placement in Hip Hop’s pantheon.

So life is good for Mr. Ross no? Well yes in a sense but for now where going to haft leave that type of phraseology to Mr. Jones. Nas might have ever contagious “Rapper Tax Disease” and will haft to pay for every ridiculous outfit Kelis wears for the rest of his life, but at least he never had/ doesn’t have somebody stating that he stole his entire image off of them.

Last week a judge ruled that a lawsuit by legendary former (destroyer of Black people) drug impresario Freeway Ricky Ross  against Warner Brothers records and Rick Ross the rapper, was valid, allowing it to proceed through the court system.

Actual convicted felon Ross is suing Hip Hop mega star Ross for unjust enrichment and false adverting, amongst other claims which can be basically summed up as the Florida rapper being accused of stealing and then profiting off Freeway Rick’s entire life.

Let’s take a second her and be completely honest with ourselves.

Rick Ross is guilty as F**k of the claims against him.

Your IQ would haft to be at a level that doesn’t prevent you from slobbering on yourself to think the man with the government moniker of William Roberts II didn’t derive his name from one the biggest cocaine traffickers known to the American populace.

It’s hard to imagine an MC who boasts about being about “The Biggest Boss you ever saw” who took it upon himself to adopt Rick Ross as a stage name, not doing so in homage and or reverence for the man, who when adjusted for inflation, made over a billion off the distribution of that white.

Now that’s “Rich Off Cocaine”.

As hurtful as it must be to see somebody else profiting off of YOUR life to the point that individual literally trademarked your likeness, the general empathy conjured for someone in that circumstance is lost upon Rick Ross.

While being told that you can’t profit off of your (criminal) past may be a difficult yet understandable blow, having to watch somebody else make millions off of it has to be soul crushing.

But

Rick Ross deserves to suffer.

Ross wasinstrumental in the destruction of incalculable amount of lives via his drug network; whose impact Black America in particular, is still reeling from. In an ironic but still ultimately detrimental twist, the likeness the real “reformed” Rick Ross is trying to get back from Rick Ross the rapper is now beingutilized to promote and ultimately influence others to engage a lifestyle he’s long disavowed.

Meaning

The negative impact of the “work” Rick Ross engaged in still reverberates strongly against the American landscape.

Based on the crimes he was convicted of an his own boastful admissions, the 14 years Ross served were a ridiculously paltry recompense to the public, whose well being he willfully help degrade.

Ones, moral and logical leanings might summarize the forever bearded Florida MC should be obligated to break some of that estimated 17-25 million dollar bread with the aforementioned street legend.

True fairness being meted out demands a harsh truth be told. Our finite caches of empathy are better spent elsewhere.

The ongoing nightmare Freeway Rick Ross continuously endures happens to be no more than an unknowingly indebted man, continuing to pay his debt to society.

Side Note: Come to think of it Cormega did try to Gusto Nas for scribing and living out other people’slives, but somehow 5 for 40 isn’t making 2 million in one day.