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Rick Ross is not a real gangsta, even if he tries his darndest for you to think he is.

PHOTOS: NO BUENO! Rick Ross’ Rolls Royce Crashes After Drive-By Shooting 

Actually, I’m not sure how hard he even tries anymore.

He’s softened up over the years, never really appearing to be actually threatening. He doesn’t make gangsta music anymore, either. Yeah, he’ll rap “kilo” with “stick of deo” every once in a while, but his music is commercial. Despite the menacing title, his last album, God Forgives, I Don’t, was pure fluff, which featured no Gunplay but plenty of Omarion and Wale-written poetry.

He’s a persona, a character played up for the cameras. That’s OK. Various fun, interesting characters is what makes present day hip-hop so great. 2013 hip-hop has its arms wide open for everyone.

There’s still a small minority that doesn’t see things this way, however.

And when that happens, we have a situation like last night where, on the eve of his 37th birthday, shots were fired at the Bawse and his alleged girlfriend after a night of partying at Club LIV in Miami. Thankfully, neither were hit by shots. The only casualty was Ross’ Rolls Royce, which proceeded to crash after shots rang out.

PHOTOS: Rick Ross Celebrated His Birthday At LIV Before Drive-By Shooting Attempt 

My initial reaction: damn, the streets tried to take out the Bawse.

Now, to be fair the story is fresh, so this isn’t confirmed; we only know some of the who and none of the why. (This could be a case of mistaken identity.)

But we do know that over the last year,Ross has received a number of threats.

Last July, Ross’ tour bus was burglarized during a stop in Detroit. Then, in November, masked Gangster Disciple members from North Carolina said they were coming for Ross when he comes to their town. Gangster Disciple is a gang based in the United States murder capital, Chicago, and alleged members from that city released their own WorldStar-like video, saying that unless Ross hits Gangster Disciple Emeritus Larry Hoover with a check, they will come after his head.

There’s a fraction of the streets that are not feeling Ross and, if you count last night, a fraction of that fraction wants him dead. All because Ross isn’t a real gangsta.

What a prehistoric view to have.

It’s like these dudes aren’t hip to the joke yet: hip-hop is fun and games, not to be taken serious. The music is at the center, it doesn’t belong to the streets anymore. It’s pop music that’s great because of its various characters.

Sometimes personas are entirely created, other times pieces of personalities are exaggerated, but in 2013, 90 percent of rappers are characters, just playing their part.

By ’90s hip-hop standards, fine, Ross is a fraud. A fat kid who might have grown up in a tough part of town, came up a little bit playing college football, spent some years as a C.O. and then grew up to become a rapper.

In 2013, he’s an entertainer. Who can’t really entertain if he’s dead.

Someone give the streets the memo.

I’m finna be the Bawse of Twitter @Milkman__Dead