Rick Ross Cancels North Carolina Tour Stops

After snagging a Best Rap Album Grammy nomination Wednesday for his gold-certified God Forgives, I Don't LP, it seemed no one could hold Rick Ross back — until now. According to reports, the Maybach Music general was forced to cancel concerts in Charlotte and Greensboro, North Carolina, scheduled for this weekend.

Live Nation Entertainment group released a statement saying that fans who bought tickets to the tour, which also features MMG artists Wale and Meek Mill, will receive refunds starting Friday. No official reason was given for the cancellations.

Ross has yet to comment, though he did tweet Thursday night (December 6) before his set at Connecticut's Hot 93.7 Jingle Jam, which went down as planned: "We bout to tear this stage down #MMG #Hartford."

Some reports have linked the cancellations to death threats made by a street gang known as the Gangster Disciples, though Ross' camp has yet to confirm those allegations. The rift between Ross (born William Leonard Roberts II) and the Gangster Disciples stems from the gang's disapproval of the Teflon Don's use of their signature six-point star on his recent Black Bar Mitzvah mixtape and his mention of their leader, Larry Hoover, who is currently serving time in prison, in the street anthem "B.M.F. (Blowin' Money Fast)."

Recently, the North Carolina chapter of the gang tried to intimidate the "Bag of Money" MC via a YouTube video, warning him to stay out of Charlotte. And while the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police released a statement Wednesday reassuring fans that officers would remain vigilant to ensure their safety, Paul Scott, a minister and hip-hop journalist from Durham, believes canceling the shows was the right move.

"I think fans should be concerned," Scott told The Charlotte Observer. "I think the parents should be concerned, because you never know. Hip-hop does not represent the real street, the commercial hip-hop that Rick Ross promotes represents Wall Street, and Wall Street cares nothing about the loss of human life if they can make a dollar."