MIAMI, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- Rapper Rick Ross' latest album, Mastermind, has attracted attention for more than its Lamar Odom-inspired track. He's also had to clarify his lyrical reference to Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old who was fatally shot by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman in 2012.
On "Black and White," Ross raps, "Forbes dot com/I'm the Teflon Don/Too close to a ni**a as a mother**king bomb/Trayvon Martin, I'm never missing my target/B*tch n****s hating/Tell me it's what I'm parking/Wing Stop owner/Lemon pepper aroma/Young, black n***a/barely got a diploma."
Some people took issue with the lyric, which just happened to be made available for streaming the night before the two-year anniversary of Martin's death.
Ross clarified his meaning in a statement to VIBE on Wednesday:
"It's so important that today, on the two-year anniversary of the death of Trayvon Martin, we never forget that tragedy," Ross he said. "I'm never going to let the world forget that name. In my song "Black and White" off Mastermind I say, 'Trayvon Martin, I'm never missing my target.' There I'm reminding people that if you're a black person or a person of any color for that matter in this country, you have to be accurate, whatever moves you make, stay accurate. Even when you're walking down the street, playing music from your car, you have to stay on point."
"Black men are being killed and their killers [are] beating the trial. It hasn't been this much violence against black men since the '60s," he added. "I am Trayvon Martin, we're all Trayvon Martin. He was from South Florida. That could have been me or one of my homies. So, stay alert and never miss your target. Whatever that target may be. Getting out the hood, providing from your family. Stay sharp. Stay alive. Trayvon, Rest in Peace."
Ross faced similar scrutiny last year when Reebok cut sponsorship ties with the rapper after rapped about slipping ecstasy into a women's drink before having sex with her.
[Hip Hop Wired, VIBE]
