Rick Ross Protests Soul Train Awards Loss To Eminem
by Omar Burgess
Lost in the hilarity of Wolf Blitzer wanting someone to "teach him how to Dougie" and accepting Eminem's award for Best Hip Hop song, was Rick Ross' skipped performance for what he apparently perceived as a snub. Ross' collaboration with Styles P, "B.M.F." was also in the running for the Best Hip Hop Song award. While Em won for "Love the Way You Lie," Ross reportedly exited the building and skipped his scheduled performance of "Aston Martin Music."
Ross' "Aston Martin Music" collaborator, Chrisette Michele, took to her blog, to address the issue, saying that she was primed for the performance only to be told it was canceled following Ross' untimely exit.
"Who stands off at an award show because they don't win?" she wrote. "An award is winning at being as 'stuck in a category' as possible. Congratulations to all the trophy holders who won at being the most like every one else…I could have sworn hip hop was on the come up. But apparently rapping is about venting, bashing, chauvinistic pigging, and EGO. Not cool. Don't LET me start rapping. (album in stores november 30th)."
The singer backed off the comments a bit during a later interview, but still expressed disappointment at Ross, while not naming him directly.
"One of my dear friends pulled a little fit and left the awards before he was able to perform," Michele said, during an interview with Glenn Woods of Atlanta's Hot 107.9. "That made it so I couldn't perform with him, and it made me think twice about what it means to receive an award. At the end of the day, just because you don't win an award doesn't make you less of an amazing artist. So I was a little disappointed at some people's behavior at the award show."
Interestingly enough, Ross contemplated dissing Eminem in 2009 during the height of his feud with 50 Cent.
"I mean, I'm a fan of Eminem," Ross told MTV. "I'm a fan first and foremost. But after defeating Curly, my confidence is at an all-time high. Maybe before I wouldn't have challenged him, but I'm contemplating it now. The game is commending me for my victory. That's all I wanted to do was … punish the opposition. I think I've done a great job and I'm gonna continue to do that."
Ross was reportedly at Atlanta strip club, The Gold Club, after the Soul Train Awards taping, but he has yet to address his exit.
(November 12)
UPDATE: Rick Ross was interviewed by Tim Westwood and was asked about walking out at the Soul Train Music Awards. The Miami rapper cleared the air and said it had nothing to do with losing the award.
"I came the day before and they gave me a mic for rehearsals, and I had no input on the performance," the Bawse told Westwood. "We done worked a long time to get in this position not to just get thrown on stage. We had just did our thing at the BET Awards and played a part of that performance down to the pyros on stage. I just want to be part of the production….it wasn't nothing personal to no one."
Additional reporting by J-23