Rick Ross Defends Controversial Trayvon Martin Lyric

Rick Ross has been forced to defend a controversial lyric involving Trayvon Martin found on his upcoming album Mastermind.

In new song “Black and White,” Ross rhymes, “Forbes dot com, I’m the Teflon Don/ Too close to a n—a as a motherfucking bomb/Trayvon Martin, I’m never missing my target/Bitch n—as hating, tell me it’s what I’m parking.”

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The rapper sent an email to Vibe clarifying his lyrics. “It’s so important that today, on the two-year anniversary of the death of Trayvon Martin, we never forget that tragedy,” Ross 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.”

Ross went on to say that he could relate to Martin and how, growing up in Florida as Martin did, he could have been a shooting victim under similar circumstances.

“Black men are being killed and their killers [are] beating the trial,” said the rapper. “It hasn’t been this much violence against black men since the ’60s. 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.”

Last year, Ross condemned the Trayvon Martin verdict in his song “I Wonder Why,” rapping about the teenager, sarcastically referencing the state’s controversial Stand Your Ground law and sampling testimony from Martin’s friend Rachel Jeantel. “Now, I’m being followed by a creepy ass cracker,” Ross says on the track, referencing Jeantel’s testimony. “Stand your ground, stand your ground. You got to stand your ground. Got on my hoody and my motherfucking desert eagle.”

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This isn’t the first time the rapper has come under fire for controversial lyrics. Last year, Reebok cut off sponsorship ties with Ross after the release of Rocko’s “U.O.E.N.O.,” in which Ross rapped, “Put molly all in her champagne, she ain’t even know it / I took her home and I enjoyed that, she ain’t even know it.” Rocko eventually dropped the lyrics from the song, with Ross explaining, and eventually apologizing, for the lyric.

Mastermind, set for official release on March 4th, is currently streaming on iTunes and features guest spots by by Kanye West, Jay Z, Lil Wayne, Big Sean, French Montana, Meek Mill, Jeezy and the Weeknd.