3.5/5
Rich Ross.
Welcome back to the Port of Miami! Where Rick Ross brings more Heat to South Beach than a LeBron James throne changing decision. Or when the 'Will' of a 'Bad Boy For Life' named Smith called this place where it ain't no surprise to see Sly Stallone in the club, his second home. Raise the glass of Rozay in a city so hot they have nightclubs without roofs (I still can't get over that after my 2006 trip! How can you get thrown out of a club that's actually outside?). Because now in a world of Kings and Fresh Princes, Rick Ross is 'Richer Than I Ever Been' ("I". Me? Well...that's not much of an achievement) with his long awaited eleventh album, coming out of quarantine two years after his 'Port Of Miami' classic sequel. A few months after his Maybach Music artist Wale's (who appears with Future for the better days of 'Warm Words In A Cold World') own 'Folarin II'. A couple more after 'Certified Lover Boy' Drake battled now new friend Kanye and 'Donda' for not only rap, but album of the year. The same Canadian who called Ross the best rapper alive (did Thanos just snap his fingers again?). All on the same day Alicia's new 'Keys' opens doors. Rapping on the title track, "Heard they hear them twenty-times their momma screamin', "Hallelujah"/Rep the same block but where we from that's how they do you (Huh)/If you from the city, boy, you better rep the fullest (Brr)/I came for the money, twenty B's and that'll do it (Ah)/I'm the only to fill the dope boys in them arenas (You see it)." Now the notorious B.I.G. rapper with an infamous introduction to his 'Little Havana' ("Problem was I never was a prodigy/Possibly, my biggest flaw is lack of modesty") intro with Willie Falcon and The-Dream on the hook, working all this out after losing some of that body fat like Joe, still moves real weight like Joey Crack across the Atlantic.
F### with him, you know he's still got it. The man who once rapped, "if she dies on my d###, she'll live through my rhymes" (how reassuring for her parents) may never win 'The Pulitzer' (God forgives 'Teflon Don', I don't), but on the track of the same name, he's going for the rap one. "Twenty million cash, yes, that's called success/Thousand acres, my own metropolis/And he still hustle with dominance." The "King of all Kings" this Christmas with a brick under the tree like the 'Trilla' rapper says on his 'Imperial High', wanting the crown back like the 'Rather You Than Me' album cover. The 'Hood Billionaire', 'Mastermind' going 'Deeper Than Rap' on the 'Marathon' cut that really outruns not only the game, but those playing the world like they care enough to change it. "Envy won’t be tolerated, so let’s cut this conversation/And true love what I got for mine, otherwise it’s complicated/Fake s###, just a fantasy, things you may have contemplated/Judas was a politician, made up like a Ronald Reagan/This is just a war on drugs, tell me how you feel about it/Black lives really matter now, tell Emmett Till about it/George Floyd was face down as you n####s stood around it/Did your little FaceTimes, left the neighborhood astounded." Now that's worth the Pulitzer in this swipe away world of stories that last 24 hours. These lines will last forever in rap legend for the man who made his own legacy, despite 50. Adding the outstanding 'Outlawz' ("I got a line of cars wrappin’ ’round the block/And livin’ better than these rappers rappin’ ’round the clock/I built a golf course and a car porch/Since everybody askin’ “Where your cars goin’?”/Mozzarella, now its only tall cheddar/Most dope boys been a Paul Bearer/Package the product then you pick it up back in Bahamas/Talkin’ them dollars, how I touch it, come off as a profit.") like Tupac featuring 21 Savage and a classic Jazmine Sullivan chorus to the 'Aston Martin Music' of his most successful singles 'Speedin'' down Ocean Drive.
Boss like Springsteen, Ross ravishes the game like it was already slain with Benny The Butcher, making meat out of the 'Rapper Estates'. And a meal too for his own ticket to ride. Taxing the rich with lines like "backs against ropes, win a case/Then it's back to bein' broke, I know the place/Where the rats and the roaches would race", that will never see the Maybach of his music impounded. Acting like raps Ali with references to blood brother Malcolm, by any means necessary. On the 'Wiggle' with Dream Doll for that Derulo and Dogg chart-topping money. Sales figures will be a luxury tax for Ross once the boss of all bosses unleashes 'Can't Be Broke' like the dog (word to the late, great DMX. Rest peacefully) in his voice, as Yungeen Ace and Major Nine help with the down payment. It seems like after years of collaborating in blockbusters, trading rhymes like NBA deadlines with the Young Money likes of Lil' Wayne and Drake that Rick is now rolling with the young future like 'Big Rings', now he's 'Made It Out Alive' like Blxst. "War stories, my mama made it through the Holocaust/Candle burnin', the people came, they cut the power off/Full of hatred, then come the questions, is the family Satan?/Everybody gotta show they hands, trust me, be patient/Negativity grow like weeds in the flowerbed/Seen Gs turn into fiends, get a thousand years." Again the man that once bragged about not giving 100 grand to Haiti because "that's a decent watch" has grown and stepped his rap game up. Bringing that Young Jeezy, epic energy power bar rap back. And this is like protein powder to your speakers. No snowman, even if 'tis the season and the city of vice like Grand Theft Auto, or rolled up Crocket and Tubbs sleeves before Farrell and Foxx. But taking it back like Shaft or 'The Look Of Love' Isaac Hayes (frequent collaborator John Legend once compared Ross to the Chef) sample that's been an urban staple from everyone from Damian Marley to Jay-Z, can he live? All as he leaves the competition from the exhaust of his Maybach in 'Hella Smoke' like Wiz Khalifa. What colour is it this week? Black or yellow? On the greenback album cover of 'Ever', a white party suited Rozay is on the almighty dollar like the last name of his logo for this baked dozen. But he's got more than money on his mind as he cashes in on his lines. When it comes to the stakes and stacks of rap royalty, Rick Ross is a rich man. Uhh! TIM DAVID HARVEY.
Playlist Picks: 'Outlawz (Feat. Jazmine Sullivan & 21 Savage)', 'The Pulitzer', 'Warm Words In A Cold World (Feat. Wale & Future)'.
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