By 2008, Miami MC Rick Ross had solidified his spot as certainly one of hip-hop’s most promising new abilities. His first two albums Port of Miami and Trilla have been licensed Gold, and rap lovers everywhere in the nation had grown accustomed to Ross’ husky voice, well-rounded tasks, and sharp lyricism over glorious manufacturing.
Ross’ third album, 2009’s Deeper Than Rap, lived as much as its title and helped introduce the world to a boss-like determine that combined opulent songs like “Yacht Club” and avenue bangers like “Face” that includes fellow Miami native and longtime collaborator Trina.
Whereas Ross already had two Gold albums underneath his belt by the point work started on 2009’s Deeper Than Rap, individuals like Ted Lucas, the founding father of Slip-N-Slide Data, and Miami rap legend Trina, paint an image of a Boss nonetheless studying the ropes.
Hearken to Rick Ross’ Deeper Than Rap now.
The early years of Rick Ross
Ted Lucas: “What I seen was hunger, hunger and determination to really become – when he was talking that boss stuff – the best. He never wanted to settle. He’s the type to say, ‘I got to go get that.’ He wanted to be the best. So it was hunger and determination to be the best in what he does.”
Trina: “I heard about Ross in the streets being a local lyricist. He was buzzing underground and we know mostly the same people.”
Ted Lucas: “ I needed to dumb Ross down as a result of he was so lyrical. ‘Hustlin’’ was a main instance. He wouldn’t of dropped that report. I used to be like, ‘No, you can’t rap busy. You bought to only catch the movement and let it go.’ What made me signal Ross after I signed him was I knew that cats up North have been going to respect him and get it, and I knew he might relate to cats down South. After I first signed him, you possibly can put Ross in a rap battle and he might eat somebody up.
“Not too many cats from down South that you could put in a cipher and he’s going to eat it up. Honestly, over the years, we told him to scale it back a bit just to put his foot in the door. If you’re from up North, they’ll let you in the door on your lyrical content. But when you’re coming from down South, we just got to water it down and bring it back. [I told Ross,] ‘Once you get in the door, you can say to them, ‘Don’t play with me boy! I got lyrics, I got bars, I can rap.’’ That’s when he was able to get in. What took Ross so long to get in the game was that he had lyrical skills and spit bar for bar. That’s what made his lyrical content so strong.”
Trina: “I feel once he did ‘Hustlin,’’ it was every hood anthem. Everybody hustles everyday. So this became the signature ‘Boss’ motto. It set the tone for all the hustlers. He signified that Ross was officially ‘The Boss.’”
Ted Lucas: “Pay attention, it was quite a lot of work to get him to not simply put a 24-bar verse inside an 8-bar verse. He can be rapping a lot he would offer you a 24-bar verse inside an eight-bar verse! He needed to get his level throughout. We needed to slowly get him to say, ‘Hey Ross, wait a minute! Once you get your foot in the door, you’re going to have the ability to let all people know don’t play with you.’ However that’s what the entire thing was about.
“Everybody has their own lane: Trick Daddy was more on some thug, street, stay in the hood kind of thing. Trina was the female that everybody could relate to. Ross wanted to be the boss. He never wanted to be a worker, He never wanted to be normal. He always was like, “How can I be the boss?” So you understand who you’re coping with while you’re doing enterprise with him as a result of you understand his imaginative and prescient. I perceive he at all times needed the very best of all the pieces. He at all times checked out all the pieces massive.
“Some other rappers would look at things and say, ‘Let me get the [convertible].’ Ross would say, ‘What’s the most expensive car out there right now?’ That’s why he named his company Maybach Music. At that time, the Maybach was one of the cars that he dreamed of and meant something to him. He knew what it was. He was the boss. Other people probably want their little share, Ross didn’t want his share. He wanted the whole pie.”
Trina: “Ross is family so [working with him] was a must. He gave me so much vision and direction. So when I had the chance to do my first video for a movie that Ice Cube was doing (2002’s All About The Benjamins) I told the label I had to give them a song featuring Ross (‘Told Y’all’). I wanted him to get that shine. This was a big video so I needed the Boss to be included.”
Ted Lucas: “Relaxation in peace to [former Def Jam A&R] Shakir Stewart. He actually was the glue. Shake is what we referred to as him, he was the one within the trenches that made all the pieces work. So when it got here to JAY-Z, he had already educated him a lot on Rick Ross and Jay coming from an artist perspective, he knew what it was. Once we met with Jay, there was nothing to speak about. He had already did his homework and Jay was like, ‘Let’s make it occur.’ There have been no negotiations. He obtained it. From an govt standpoint, [people] get grasping generally and it’s a must to negotiate so exhausting as a result of individuals wish to speak you down on percentages or no matter. Jay simply mentioned, ‘Let’s get it carried out.’
”We most well-liked that we labored with somebody with an artist’s standpoint and that had labored with an impartial label and we obtained it carried out in someday. That was a terrific transfer when Def Jam introduced in JAY-Z. Def Jam was highly effective at the moment after the New York run. Jay introduced life again to Def Jam and put them again on the map. All of this success was underneath his umbrella. Rihanna. Ne-Yo. Making a take care of him wasn’t exhausting in any respect and also you’re studying from the person as you’re speaking to him. Getting him to enter the sales space for the ‘Hustlin’’ remix was unbelievable.”
Drumma Boy and “Face”
Grammy Award-winning producer Drumma Boy is a longtime fan of Miami hip-hop and has crafted hits for MCs like Jeezy and crooners like Usher. A frequent Rick Ross collaborator, Drumma Boy’s work on Deeper Than Rap consists of certainly one of his favourite productions: “Face,” a booming, horn-driven collaboration with a visitor verse from Trina.
Drumma Boy: “[With] Miami hip-hop, I think about Luke and about super uptempo, Freaknik-type [music]. It’s all about the bass and 808s. I also think about 69 Boyz, that whole era and of course Trina, Rick Ross and Slip-N-Slide [Records]. Miami is where everybody wants to go kick it, beautiful, and you can have a good time and have the best parties. It’s where it’s at.”
Trina: “It’s the southern sound, the swag, the way we say our words and talk. Ross has a deep husky voice, so his voice stands out naturally. The way he twist his words and says certain things are his own sound. That’s what makes [his sound] unique.”
Drumma Boy: “I at all times do me and simply make music that’s dope and has obtained a vibe, a head knock. It’s going to make you groove, going to make you dance, it’s going to make you social gathering, it’s going to make you smile and offer you power. As quickly as you hear it you’re fascinated by tales, what story I’ma inform on this? I paint the image with the music. On Deeper Than Rap, doing ‘Face’ and at last with the ability to get Trina on a monitor… It was only a dope second and nonetheless certainly one of my favourite data.
”After I was making the beat [for ‘Face’], Ross was like, ‘I just want something club, something we can just mob to.’ I bear in mind making the beat on some lure, soiled with the horns and it simply got here out a traditional. I didn’t even know Trina was going to be on it. I bear in mind him calling me up and taking part in me the report similar to, ‘Damn that shit crazy. We got Trina on that thing, boy!’”
Trina: “I respect [Ross] as a man, as a brother, [so] when we work together it’s always family. When I first started working with him he would always makes sure I was comfortable and allow me to be myself. He’s always very inspiring when it comes to being creative. I remember I wouldn’t turn my album in unless he approved.”
Drumma Boy: “It’s actually about your character. Who you’re as a person. So many individuals get in the place you from, the place you at, however for me I can go wherever. I journey the world and have a respect and provides that respect. You obtain what you give. Should you give respect and pay homage and are at all times humble, the alternatives and introductions and relationships and referrals and issues of that nature, more often than not issues are going to go nicely for you. Individuals are going to wish to put alternatives in your pocket and provide the first name for gigs and issues like that.
“That was the most important thing for me coming out of Memphis [and connecting with Ross]. If I earn my respect, I’m going to to start getting paid because people respect me. Ain’t nobody going to pay you if they don’t respect you. And then comes the power. Then we become powerful because of the relationships, because of the longevity, because of the consistency. Consistently being able to deliver and being able to generate millions for artists all across the world and all across the nation. That’s what it’s about for me: character and respect.”
Rick Ross’ work ethic
By the point Deeper Than Rap dropped in 2009, Rick Ross survived a beef with the seemingly invincible 50 Cent and was lastly getting the mainstream consideration he labored years to earn. Rick Ross’ Maybach Music imprint was lastly off the bottom and would assist push promising MCs like Meek Mill and Wale to new heights. For those who labored with him and watched his progress over years, his success was no accident.
Ted Lucas: “When Ross first began and ‘Hustlin’’ was out, he had three or 4 exhibits a day and he was going to do all of them. ‘Find a helicopter, we’re doing it,’ is what he would let you know. ‘The other cities, we wouldn’t get there in time if we drive; if it’s three hours away, a helicopter can get us there in 45 minutes. Make it occur,’ he’d say. That’s him. You’ll be able to’t inform him no. The one person who was going to inform him no is Jesus Christ. Everyone on the street knew that. He’s going to outwork you, and that’s going to encourage you to work. It makes you keep in your sport. As a result of you understand with him, he wasn’t going to take it simple. He’s going to maintain pushing. Ross was placing out two albums in two years and no person was doing it at the moment. Each 36 months we have been placing out an album. Again then. He was at all times engaged on his craft. He wasn’t taking part in.
”[I wanted to help Ross learn] enterprise construction. Ross did all the pieces from a dope boy perspective. In his eyes, if it could possibly be carried out from the streets, it could possibly be carried out. He needed to get the understanding of short-term enterprise, of publishing offers. Issues like that. The opposite aspect of the company world, as a result of he wasn’t prepared to grasp that when he first began. Once we first began, he had all the pieces just like the streets. Should you might do it there, you possibly can do it wherever.
”We signed our take care of Def Jam and we had all people and their mama making an attempt to signal us to a deal, however I instructed him I wasn’t in a rush to do something as a result of I needed him in the very best state of affairs not just for myself however him, as nicely. I needed to discover a deal that labored for the each of us and made the very best sense for him. I knew his imaginative and prescient was not solely as an artist. He had individuals like DJ Khaled all within the sport. Not too many artists can do this in a single metropolis. Everyone in [Miami] believed in him.”
Drumma Boy: “[Ross] is one of the most inspirational artists out for me. Between him and Gucci [Mane], you just love those guys. You love working with them. When they call you or when they reach out and say, ‘It’s time,’ you know what time it is. That’s all he’s got to say. I always got a folder for my favorite artists. I got a secret folder for all of my favorite artists, so when they call me, I’m already locked and loaded and ready. And if you want to cook up something from scratch, we can do that, too. Always being prepared is like, once you’re legendary, once you’re a vet, you might be at the house just chilling and when they call you, it’s game time.”
Ted Lucas: “Ross would come from the membership and do 5 songs based mostly on what he’d seen that night time. Most individuals, they’ll depart the membership and so they obtained to go have a child, make like to someone or one thing. However Ross is totally different. Ross will return, do 5 songs that night time, get up within the morning after sleeping for 3 hours and do ten extra songs. I assure you, Ross’ engineer most likely has 1,000 songs he by no means launched. Simple. His work ethic was that unbelievable. You couldn’t fall asleep earlier than him, and also you higher be up earlier than him.
”I knew as soon as he obtained his foot within the door what it was. [Ross] had it in thoughts earlier than he even had hit data that he would journey all over the world and do massive concert events. Some individuals simply wish to get their cash and go house. He needed all the pieces. No matter this sport needed to provide and what comes with it, he didn’t care what it will take to go do it. You don’t discover that every single day. Folks get content material very simply. I don’t suppose he even is aware of what that phrase means. “He was waiting to show people that. Coming from down South, you’re coming off of all kinds of rappers that were more into a vibe and not as much lyrical content. Ross was able to make you [rewind] the song and listen to what he said. Lines he was saying could make you tell he read books. He’s a smart brother, he isn’t crazy. He perfected his craft. He went in to get himself ready and when his time came he took advantage of it. Anybody could’ve gotten signed to Def Jam and would’ve been happy and stopped right there. Not Ross.”
After the discharge of Deeper Than Rap, Rick Ross’ abilities for persistently creating hip-hop that captivated listeners everywhere in the United States moved him from a category of profitable newcomers to gifted all-time greats. His penchant for lush, soulful manufacturing because the backdrops for his intricate, cinematic lyrics lastly carved out a distinct segment for what listeners might come to count on from him. Deeper Than Rap would additionally arrange certainly one of Ross’ most well-known tasks, Teflon Don. Lengthy reside The Boss.
Hearken to Rick Ross’ Deeper Than Rap now.
Editor’s be aware: This text was initially revealed in 2019.
