Rapper Rick Ross just dropped Outlawz, the first song from his new album Richer Than I Ever Been. The song features Jazmine Sullivan whinin’ on the hook, and 21 Savage ridin’ the beat. It is guaranteed to be another banger from Ross, who is known for his strong beats and street-fueled lyrics. The beat on Outlawz is slow, melodic and takes me back to Curtis Mayfield, Freddy’s Dead, Farmville, VA and the smell of Pabst Blue Ribbons in the ’70s.
Ross had some pretty interesting lyrics too, appearing to fetishize fentanyl. Below is what the Shock Exchange was able to decipher:
I build a golf course and a car porch, since everybody askin’ where your cars going? … Package the product then you pick it up back in Bahamas. Talkin’ them dollars, how I touch it come off as a prophet. You leave your pistol home then you on your own. Cause ‘lil one when it’s on they gon’ do ya wrong. See ya noddin’ off on that fentanyl.
The Shock Exchange doesn’t even have a car porch by the way, but he digresses. Ross is not the only rapper to glorify drug use in his lyrics. Future and Lil Wayne have consistently talked about molly and percocet. The country is in pain, so art – music, books, film – should reflect the times. Drug overdose deaths rose 30% to over 93,000 in 2020 – another record. This came as lawmakers cut back on opioid distribution from drug makers. Ralph Baker’s Shock Exchange: How Inner-City Kids From Brooklyn Predicted the Great Recession and the Pain Ahead predicted the pain ahead, noddin’ off on fentanyl, oxycodone, methadone, etc.
Meanwhile, drug makers and drug distributors have agreed to pay over $30 billion to state attorneys general for their role in the opioid crisis. At least six states – Georgia, Alabama, New Mexico, Nevada, West Virginia and Washington – have not agreed to a full settlement. Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford suggested the $240 million his state was expected to receive was not enough, and decided to sue drug makers separately. Two major lawsuits in Oklahoma and California against drug makers have been overturned. Governor Al Bartell believes Georgia fumbled the opioid bag by not settling while the iron was hot. However, Ford (and others) continue to press on.
Trump And The GE: Barbarians At The Gate For Endo, explained why the lawsuits were overturned:
Judge Peter J. Wilson of California ruled earlier this week that opioid manufacturers were not liable for the opioid epidemic … He felt the plaintiffs did not prove that the opioid manufacturers caused doctors to inappropriately prescribe opioids … This is after four years. They’ve had four years to come up with this evidence … He said it’s well-known that doctors were prescribing opioids for chronic pain, which led to ballooning prescriptions and the trade-off is that it may have led to more addiction … He also said, ‘How can you prove that prescription drugs caused overdose deaths versus drugs being sold on the black market?’
That said, how can one prove that the guy noddin’ off on that fentanyl, actually bought that fentanyl from a doctor and not on the black market? Ford continues to sue opioid manufacturers like Endo (ENDP), Teva (TEVA) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) for illicit marketing of opioids. Meanwhile, Rick Ross, Jasmine Sullivan and 21 Savage get to fetishize fentanyl in order to move product. Does AG Ford know about this?
