Deep Album Cuts Vol. 199: Rick Ross
On Thursday, Rick Ross will face 2 Chainz on a Verzuz battle on Instagram. And I'm very partisan here, I'm a much bigger fan of 2 Chainz, but I'll admit he's the underdog here, Rick Ross has a pretty big run of hits to choose from. And I've always kind of preferred some of Ross's less overexposed tracks to his singles.
2. Blow (featuring Dre)
3. We Shinin'
4. Maybach Music (featuring Jay-Z)
5. Luxury Tax (featuring Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy and Trick Daddy)
6. Face (featuring Trina)
7. Gunplay (featuring Gunplay)
8. Murder Mami (featuring Foxy Brown)
9. I'm Not A Star
10. MC Hammer (featuring Gucci Mane)
11. No. 1 (featuring Trey Songz and Diddy)
12. Maybach Music III (featuring T.I., Jadakiss and Erykah Badu)
13. Sixteen (featuring Andre 3000)
14. Amsterdam
15. Supreme
16. Trap Luv (featuring Yo Gotti)
17. One Of Us (featuring Nas)
18. Lamborghini Doors (featuring Meek Mill and Anthony Hamilton)
19. Turnpike Ike
Tracks 1 and 2 from Port Of Miami (2006)
Tracks 3, 4 and 5 from Trilla (2008)
Tracks 6, 7 and 8 from Deeper Than Rap (2009)
Tracks 9, 10, 11 and 12 from Teflon Don (2010)
Tracks 13 and 14 from God Forgives, I Don't (2012)
Track 15 from Mastermind (2014)
Tracks 1 and 2 from Port Of Miami (2006)
Tracks 3, 4 and 5 from Trilla (2008)
Tracks 6, 7 and 8 from Deeper Than Rap (2009)
Tracks 9, 10, 11 and 12 from Teflon Don (2010)
Tracks 13 and 14 from God Forgives, I Don't (2012)
Track 15 from Mastermind (2014)
Track 16 from Hood Billionaire (2014)
Track 17 from Black Market (2015)
Track 18 from Rather You Than Me (2017)
Track 19 from Port Of Miami 2 (2019)
I remember being a big detractor of Rick Ross in his early years -- in fact arguing about Rick Ross online in the late 2000s is what got me in the Oxford English Dictionary! He's definitely improved a lot since Port Of Miami, but I still think "Blow" is one of my favorite Ross songs, it got a few radio spins at the time but I was disappointed when "Push It" got chosen as the next single instead. I felt the same way about "I'm Not A Star," which wasn't a hit until it was remixed as Lil Wayne's "John," and "MC Hammer," the other Lex Luger track on Teflon Don that got overshadowed by "B.M.F."
I feel like rap fans slightly younger than me have come to overrate Rick Ross's discography -- the other day someone on Twitter said he has a better catalog than Nas, which, come on, no -- but it's undeniable that he has a good ear for beats. He's gotten top shelf beats from J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League ("Luxury Tax," "Sixteen," and every "Maybach Music"), Bink! ("We Shinin'"), Drumma Boy ("Face"), DJ Toomp ("White House"), Danja ("No. 1"), Cardiak ("Amsterdam"), Scott Storch ("Supreme"), Cool & Dre ("Blow"), and Jake One ("Turnpike Ike").
Track 17 from Black Market (2015)
Track 18 from Rather You Than Me (2017)
Track 19 from Port Of Miami 2 (2019)
I remember being a big detractor of Rick Ross in his early years -- in fact arguing about Rick Ross online in the late 2000s is what got me in the Oxford English Dictionary! He's definitely improved a lot since Port Of Miami, but I still think "Blow" is one of my favorite Ross songs, it got a few radio spins at the time but I was disappointed when "Push It" got chosen as the next single instead. I felt the same way about "I'm Not A Star," which wasn't a hit until it was remixed as Lil Wayne's "John," and "MC Hammer," the other Lex Luger track on Teflon Don that got overshadowed by "B.M.F."
I feel like rap fans slightly younger than me have come to overrate Rick Ross's discography -- the other day someone on Twitter said he has a better catalog than Nas, which, come on, no -- but it's undeniable that he has a good ear for beats. He's gotten top shelf beats from J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League ("Luxury Tax," "Sixteen," and every "Maybach Music"), Bink! ("We Shinin'"), Drumma Boy ("Face"), DJ Toomp ("White House"), Danja ("No. 1"), Cardiak ("Amsterdam"), Scott Storch ("Supreme"), Cool & Dre ("Blow"), and Jake One ("Turnpike Ike").
While I sometimes find the constant red carpet parade of big name features (Jay-Z on 6 of his first 7 albums) kind of boring, Rick Ross does strike me as a real music lover who can stretch out and make good songs with less expected collaborators like Andre 3000 and Erykah Badu. And there are certain guys that Ross consistently makes good songs with like Meek Mill and Gunplay, particularly the classic song title "Gunplay" featuring Gunplay. My favorite album Ross had a heavy hand in was probably all the verses he wrote on Diddy-Dirty Money's Last Train To Paris, so I like "No. 1" with Diddy, which sounds like it could have been on that album.
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