Mississippi-born rapper and record label owner Rick Ross has been nominated for Grammy Awards and faced backlash over his past. He has experienced a good deal of legal disputes in addition to the customary rap feud (with 50 Cent).
Mississippi-born rapper and record label owner Rick Ross has been nominated for Grammy Awards and faced backlash over his past. He has experienced a good deal of legal disputes in addition to the customary rap feud (with 50 Cent).
Rick Ross: Who Is He?
Mississippi-born rapper and record label owner Rick Ross has been nominated for Grammy Awards and faced backlash over his past. He has experienced a good deal of legal disputes in addition to the customary rap feud (with 50 Cent). His Maybach Music Group has released albums by musicians such as Wale, Meek Mill, French Montana, and Teedra Moses. He is still a highly productive artist, performing both as a solo artist and as a guest. Despite being a contentious figure, Ross is well-liked in the music business, having signed contracts with P. Diddy and receiving accolades from Pharrell.
The Creation of Rick Ross On January 28, 1976, William Leonard Roberts II was born in Coahoma County, Mississippi. Growing up in the underprivileged neighborhood of Carol City, Florida, north of Miami, Ross was drawn to the street-style music of rappers like Luther Campbell, Ice Cube, Notorious B.I.G., Tupac Shakur, and others. Despite receiving a football scholarship to Albany State University in Georgia, Ross spent a year there before beginning to write rap lyrics that idealized drug peddling, a conduct he had witnessed as a young child.
His stage moniker, “Freeway” Rick Ross, came from tales he had heard about a drug dealer. Ironically, Ross spent nearly two years working as a correctional officer in Florida (a fact he subsequently acknowledged when it was made public), but he was drawn to hip-hop music and the opulent lifestyle of drug dealers he had witnessed as a child.
Prior to taking on the Rick Ross identity, he had made his music debut as Tephlon on the song “Ain’t Shhh to Discuss” from the 2000 compilation Def Squad Presents Erick Sermon, which included former EPMD member Erick Sermon. Eventually, he joined with Suave House Records, an independent Southern rap company that featured talents like the well-known underground pair 8Ball & MJG. Later, Ross relocated to Miami and joined the record company Slip-N-Slide, which put out songs by female rapper Trina and hip-hop icons Trick Daddy and Ross, who would go on to tour together.
The 2003 promo-only song “Just Chillin'” was his lone solo release, despite the fact that he made cameo appearances on multiple labelmates’ projects. Ted Lucas, the CEO of Slip-N-Slide, would subsequently commend Ross for his solo success, which came about following his departure from the company, saying, “I never doubted him musically and lyrically.” Rapper Ross is amazing.
“Hustlin” Gets Hotter, Def Jam Records Signs Off
The mesmerizing line “every day I’m hustling,” which appears repeatedly throughout Ross’s first official single, “Hustlin’,” turned the song into a huge success. Eventually, the track received a gold certification—an amazing accomplishment for a newly discovered recording artist. It started a bidding war with Jay Z-led Def Jam Records, which Ross eventually won and signed to a well-publicized record deal. While Lil Wayne, TI, and Busta Rhymes were included in an unofficial version of the song, Young Jeezy and Jay Z contributed verses to the official remix.
With his 2006 debut, Port of Miami, Ross debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. His 2008 follow-up album, Trilla (called after Michael Jackson’s Thriller mixed with the colloquial Southern term “trill”), similarly made its No. 1 debut. After becoming successful, Ross started going on lengthy tours and working with well-known performers like R. Kelly, Flo Rida, Nelly, and T-Pain. The New York Times hailed his third album, Deeper Than Rap (2009), calling it “unexpectedly fantastic, by far his best,” which contributed to his fame. In years, hardly many rap albums have sounded as confident and opulent as this one.
‘God Forgives’ by Maybach Music Group is a Grammy nominee.
Ross founded Maybach Music Group (MMG) that same year. The label would go on to become extremely successful, putting out records by Omarion, Wale, and Meek Mill. Supermodel Jessica Gomes’ vocal tagline “Maybach Music” would nearly always accompany Ross’s appearances and his signings on other artists’ tunes.
Ross’s own output didn’t seem to suffer from running a label. Teflon Don in 2010 was followed by God Forgives, I Don’t in 2012 and the MMG compilation Self Made Vol. 1 the following year. He collaborated with Andre 3000, Gucci Mane, CeeLo Green, Drake, Dr. Dre, and Kanye West during this period.
God Forgives received a Grammy nomination for best album in 2013. He then released Mastermind and Hood Billionaire in 2014, however both albums received unfavorable reviews and had slow sales, which may have been an indication that he was putting out too many albums too soon and lowering their quality. Black Market, album number eight, was released at the end of 2015. Rather You Than Me, his eighth album, was released in 2017.
Port of Miami 2, Ross’s tenth studio album, was released in August 2019 and debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200.
Past Disclosures of Corrections Officers, 50 Cent Rivalry
Because of his songs about drug trafficking and hustle, Ross became more well-known, and the public started to take an interest in his previous work as a law enforcement officer. When Ross’s former employment as a South Florida correctional officer was revealed by The Smoking Gun website in 2008, it was an intriguing juxtaposition. This cast question on Ross’s legitimacy in the street, but the rapper dismissed these concerns.
In addition, he has been dealing with charges related to guns, drugs, kidnapping, and assault. He was under house arrest for a significant portion of 2015. In 2010, the genuine “Freeway” Ricky Ross tried to sue Ross for appropriating his name, but the case was dismissed.
Then, starting in 2008, there was a battle with fellow rapper 50 Cent. As the two rappers traded barbs over a string of songs, Fiddy had taken to referring to Ross as “Officer Ricky” by the next year. When Fiddy published a sex tape involving Lastonia Leviston, the mother of one of Rick Ross’s children, the dispute got even more ugly. Leviston’s final victory in the court case would be partially to blame for 50 Cent’s bankruptcy.
Fears Concerning Oneself and One’s Health
Ross is rumored to be a fan of the 1980s television police drama Miami Vice, having grown up in Miami. Two of his signature looks, his big, black sunglasses and his slow, raspy voice delivery, are frequently credited to the show’s influence.
Ross, a father of four, had a medical scare in 2011 after having several seizures on two different planes in the same day. The rapper was discovered unconscious at his house in March 2018, according to TMZ, who also said that he was taken to the hospital and placed on life support before being released a few days later. Ross’s family, however, disagreed, claiming that Ross’s illness wasn’t as serious as first thought.
Textbook
Hurricanes: A Memoir, the Grammy-nominated rapper’s memoir, was released in September 2019—ten studio albums later, he became a published author. The book covered Ross’s background, his career both inside and outside of the law, and the high-profile incidents including the drive-by shooting attempt on his life in 2013 and the seizures that almost killed him in 2011.
