Rod Wave's Attorneys Say He's Not A Convicted Felon Despite Recent Arrest

Rapper Rod Wave, known for his breakthrough album 'Ghetto Gospel', was arrested on a firearm charge and booked on Wednesday, April 3.

The 'Heart On Ice' artist, whose real name is Rodarius Marcell Green, was placed behind bars at the Manatee County Jail on two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, however, his attorneys say otherwise.

Rod Wave's attorneys Bradford Cohen and Mark Rankin are claiming the officers who made the arrest are "incorrect" and the rapper is "not a convicted felon."

"We would have hoped additional research would have been done prior to them filing these charges," the attorneys told TMZ.

"As with any case we will hold those parties that made the error accountable for their actions," they added.

Jail records state he is still in custody.

Further details of his recent arrest have yet to be made public, but what we do know is this is not the first time Rod Wave has had a run-in with police as in May 2022, he was arrested for battery after his ex-girlfriend accused him of strangling her during an altercation.

The case was dismissed a few weeks later.

Ari Lennox, who is first female artist to be signed to J. Cole's record label, Dreamville Records, recently spoke out about touring with Rod Wave, admitting the audience was disrespectful.

“It was so annoying because you could be singing your a-- off, and they just don’t give a s--t," she said in an Instagram Live earlier this year per Revolt. "They’re not there for you" and the situation was the worst “in every f--king way imaginable.”

“I was never comfortable. I just remember every show, just racing to get off stage, racing to get through my set,” Lennox added. “I started trying to communicate with the audience and then I realized they were getting angry at me affirming them. You’re getting angry that I’m affirming you? This is not my crowd, and it’ll never be. And that’s alright.”

In November 2023 when on tour with Rod Wave, she said there was an incident where someone threw a water bottle at her while on stage.

“It was tough, and it was heavy on my soul, especially the day when the bottle happened because that side of the stage, like, I felt the energy,” she said in her video. “It was just all darkness. That was literally the energy that was coming from the left side. I was on that stage and people would have s--t on their screens saying ‘Next,’ and I can’t deal with s--t like that."

"I’ll curse you out… What is this aggression? You’re that pissed? It was a lot for two-and-a-half months, like, getting my wardrobe stolen. It was just a very hard two-and-a-half f--king months. Very lonely too. But I thought it would be a good idea," she continued.

In the past, the rapper has been open about his struggles with depression and has had s-icidal thoughts -- something he has actually turned into a stunt in his show to raise awareness.

During his show, he is seen standing on the edge of the stage balcony 15 feet in the air. He looks out to the crowd before he jumps and lands onto a pad.

“That was from a dream I had,” Rod explained of the stunt, per Billboard. “When I come out, walk onstage and look at [the ladder], it’s really to show people, ‘Don’t get up and do that when you can do this. You don’t know where life can take you.’ I’m walking out to a whole arena full of people looking back up at me. Imagine [if] I would’ve [gone through with committing s-icide]. I would’ve never made it to this part. There’s a whole meaning behind it — a bigger picture.”

Todd Moscowitz, CEO of Rod’s label, Alamo Records has praised the rapper, claiming he "pioneered this lane of struggle rap, which, given his age, is pretty incredible. He’s one of the great songwriters of his generation and channels emotion and vulnerability in a unique way that people relate to. He has half of the NFL in tears on Instagram when he drops a single.”

The Blast has reached out to Rod Wave's rep and to the Pinellas County, Fla. Sheriff's Office for comment.