Music

Rick Ross's ankle monitor went off in front of Obama at the White House

by Jeremy Mersereau

We’ve all been there: Invited to the White House by Barack Obama to discuss one of his key initiatives about criminal justice reform and keeping the youth of America on track, when the ankle monitor we’re wearing as a condition of our pending assault and kidnapping charges starts beeping at random. In terms of reliability, Rick Ross’s situation is right up there with Netflix binging.

The rapper was at the White House on April 15th to support the Obama administration’s My Brother’s Keeper initiative, an action plan designed to keep young people out of the criminal justice system. Also in attendance: Nicki Minaj, Busta Rhymes, Pusha T, Common, J. Cole, Chance The Rapper, just to name a few – in short, a huge number of the most talented names in hip-hop were present… and DJ Khaled was there too.

According to TMZ, during a lull in the meeting, Rozay’s ankle monitor started beeping at random. Ross, I’m sure you’ll remember, was arrested back in June of 2015 while charged with aggravated assault, kidnapping, and aggravated battery after allegedly getting into an altercation with a man doing groundskeeping work on one of his homes. The rapper is wearing the monitor under his impeccably tailored suits as a condition of his release while the charges are pending.

Started in February 2014, the My Brother’s Keeper initiative aims to address “persistent opportunity gaps faced by boys and young men of colour”, and has to-date raised over $500 million from private foundations, community groups, and businesses.

Watch a compilation of the artists’ respective Snapchats from the event, including Ross’ summation of his “big boss moves”, below: