Once "Hustlin'," Ross' Runners-produced debut as a lead artist, caught the ears of music executives, a bidding war ensued that included offers from Bad Boy CEO Sean "Diddy" Combs and the Inc (formerly Murder Inc.) president Irv Gotti. During the early to mid-2000s, Rick Ross the rapper became popular and well-known locally through touring with Trick Daddy and appearing as a guest on a few Slip-N-Slide releases. Taking his performing name from Los Angeles drug kingpin "Freeway" Rick Ross, Roberts had a brief stint on Houston's Suave House Records, former label of 8Ball & MJG, before he ended up on Miami-based Slip-N-Slide Records, the label home of Trick Daddy and Trina. Influenced by artists like Luther Campbell and the Notorious B.I.G., he began rapping in the mid-'90s and formed a local group, the Carol City Cartel. The Clarksdale, Mississippi-born William Roberts grew up in Carol City, Florida, an impoverished northern suburb of Miami. Ross carried his success into the next decade with 2021's Richer Than I Ever Been and collaborations with the likes of Dr. His multitude of guest verses have likewise supported hits by the likes of DJ Khaled (beginning with "We Takin' Over"), Kanye West ("Monster"), Maybach's French Montana ("Pop That"), Ace Hood ("Bugatti"), and Chris Brown ("New Flame"). His debut smash Port of Miami, and all nine of his subsequent studio albums, including the Grammy-nominated God Forgives, I Don't (2012) and Port of Miami 2 (2019), entered the Top Ten of the Billboard 200, promoted with high-rolling, RIAA-certified singles such as "The Boss" and "Aston Martin Music." Through his own label, Maybach Music - the name of which has been imprinted on virtually every Ross recording since 2009 - he has boosted the careers of fellow artists Gunplay, Wale, and Meek Mill. The rapper became not only a hip-hop fixture but an unlikely pop star as well. Album reviewWhile Atlanta and Houston artists were establishing their cities as Southern strongholds, Rick Ross put Miami back in rap's national spotlight with "Hustlin'" (2006), the platinum introduction to a uniquely larger-than-life character with gruffly delivered tales about the spoils and pitfalls of drug trafficking. See more Your browser does not support the audio element. This Miami Don remains an unapologetic and indefensible brute - and he says as much on this very LP - but this rough, honest, and ambitious work is like his Raging Bull, taking the listener on a compelling, dirty journey that's also a connectable character study, and then letting some slick Chris Brown ("Sorry") and Future ("D.O.P.E") features play while the credits roll. Still, "Smile Mama, Smile" with Cee Lo Green thrills on songwriting alone, putting the listener in the shoes of a superstar coming home to his mama - whom he loves dearly - while getting at the heart of addiction, family, and everyone's struggle for a centered self with "She told me no more Promethazine, it would make her proud/Think about, I had to think about it/Gimme a second mama, let me think about it." "Free Enterprise" with John Legend is the middle-aged and manly Maybach mind with a story of how reckless group sex used to be the thing, "But now the bitches be the realest one/I done cried on her shoulder when I'm feelin' numb?," along with a raging and precog bit of treason, "Assassinate Trump like I'm George Zimmerman." Black Market isn't a single-minded concept album as the tight, sharp, and debut album-hungry "Color Money" stacks paper and admits the rapper's friends "got them changing the gun laws," while the funk-fueled "Dope Dick" is crass and cold with "I got her addicted to that dope dick" as the hook. It could be a fun gimmick that Ross can blame on the legal department, and these are the kinds of tricks that make each Maybach album feel so fresh. Picking a key track is difficult as the epic bangers and surprisingly revealing freestyles all stand tall, but "Ghostwriter" sits in the middle of the album because it's the most anticipated, doling out industry gossip like a hot mixtape track but sending all listeners to check their packaging to make sure they picked up the explicit release, as Ross mentions some superstars he used to ghostwrite for, and they all get the bleep. Buy the album Starting at $10.59Īfter banging out a series of glitzy Miami gangsta albums that made him seem like the AC/DC (always the same, always quite good) of rap, Rick Ross gave the formula a rest for Black Market, an album that wanders into ruminations and cooled production at will, but still ends up all slam dunks and three pointers. Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.
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