Rick Ross has long been one of hip-hop’s most business-savvy artists. From forming a budding rap dynasty with his MMG clique to making Wingstop a household name, the Bawse is known for big moves. So it has was notable when his album release schedule went from a relatively normal album every year or two to a hyper-accelerated regimen.
On the eve of releasing Black Market, his fourth album in less than 24 months (counting the full-length free release Black Dollar), Forbes called Ross to talk about the reason for the change, his early career ghostwriting, and a whole lot more. Our conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Rick Ross: It really was a case of building a fanbase, and word began to spread that I had dope music. I just never connected with any sorts of success, any radio, etc. My name as far as having a pen became synonymous with writing throughout the city of Miami. So I would be in studios, and I just began lending my help to local artists.
F: When you’re writing a song for someone else, how is that different than writing for yourself?
RR: What makes you a great writer is when you can capture the moment that the artist wants to put out there, that feeling. You have to put yourself in that point of view, and write from that perspective. When you do that and do it the right way, that’s when the records really connect with the fans.
F: Every ghostwriter, when they first start out, ends up having at least one song taken from them and used without their permission, or sometimes even their knowledge. Did anything like that happen to you?
RR: As young artists, you will encounter situations that, if you’re fortunate enough to have a career, you will look back on and say wow, I would have never done that if I was in that position now. But being a young artist, we all know you have to sacrifice some things sometimes. That’s really how I try to look at a lot of things and justify the decisions that we made.
But most definitely, I’ve written songs where I’ve gotten one thousand dollars for a song, twenty-five hundred dollars for a complete song, just-walk-away-from-it type of shit. As a young artist at that time, I was writing up to ten songs a day, and for me it was worth it. I may have had an opportunity to use that artist’s platform to showcase some of my shit. But there were situations where I sacrificed more than I needed to, and I learned from it.
F: In the beginning of your career, you were releasing albums on a pretty standard schedule – a year, sometimes two years apart. But you had two albums last year, a mixtape this year, an album coming out in a few weeks, plus possibly later in the year an MMG compilation album. What accounts for this increased rate of release of projects?
RR: Because when there are compilations, that’s supporting the Maybach Music Brand. That’s a lot of incredible music that I make with my teammates that I want to see shine, so I assist in whatever they're doing.
I’ve been involved with a lot more things. I executive produced French Montana’s debut album along with Puff Daddy. I just co-executive produced a project by Teedra Moses, an independent soulful artist. That’s something that you might not expect, but I love being a part of the music. As my empire builds, I stay involved with the music, and it feels good.
F: You often often hear artists say that they need some time to live in between albums so that they have something to write about. With you doing four albums in two years, has it been difficult to find things to write about?
RR: Not at all. The albums have different energies. Mastermind was most definitely a relevant, full-out, melodic, soulful, wordplay project, versus the following album Hood Billionaire, which I really built around the Memphis sound. I had just received the key to the city of Memphis, so there was a lot of positive energy. I was involved in the community, I opened a few franchises, I had just went to St. Jude [Children's Research Hospital]. I had so much family there, so many artists who were from that small area that I was fans of. That’s why you saw the Project Pat feature and the Yo Gotti feature and of course the single “Elvis Presley Blvd.” as well as K. Michelle. I did something that was different, and Southern, and bass heavy. I thought it was dope.
F: How did Memphis respond to that record?
RR: It was a special moment because outside of Memphis, you hear of certain tensions between certain people, and a lot of times it’s really just misunderstandings. Just being able to do the “Elvis Presley Blvd.” remix and go out on Elvis Presley Boulevard and have MJG and Project Pat and Playa Fly and so many Memphis local artists come together when we shot the video, it was a beautiful thing. It was something I felt like I got to be able to do in the South when I’m at a pinnacle. I’m collaborating with Jay Z and Kanye West, and I’ve still got to be able to go and collaborate with the South. I thought that was the beauty of it.
F: How is Black Market different? What’s the concept behind it?
RR: This is a personal album where it’ll feel like it’s just me and you in the room, versus me writing in a way where it’s channeling a crowd. This is more of a one on one type of record.
F: Six weeks ago, you posted an Instagram photo of you and L.A. Reid [current chairman and CEO of Epic Records, and chairman and CEO of Def Jam from 2004-2011]. This led to a lot of speculation. People were wondering if you were done with Def Jam and moving to Epic. What’s the story behind that picture, and what’s your current label status?
RR: It most definitely was a meeting between myself and the legend L.A. Reid. We had a wonderful conversation about us having future business. I actually just got off a call not even an hour ago as far as the recent updates. So we’ve having positive progress on both sides of the fence, from Def Jam as well as Epic, and we're gonna see how it comes together.
F: There’s also been a lot of speculation about what’s happening with MMG as a collective. You currently release their records on Atlantic. What’s the story with that?
RR: We’re just beginning to entertain discussions. I wanted to bring everything to the light and look at all of the possibilities first before we lock into something. But we’re just beginning our discussions of possibly moving MMG from Atlantic to another situation. So we’ll see what’s going on.
F: The last time Forbes sat down with you, you owned nine Wingstop locations, mostly in the South. Are there any more stores in the empire right now?
RR: I’m sure there is, but how many, I haven’t been keeping up. And I guess that’s a positive thing.
F: How is the business?
RR: The business is very strong, from both sides – day-to-day sales as well as stocks. This is what I love. I feel like my brand and the Wingstop brand, we’re standing out. It’s a lot of new things they’re creating. The brand is fresh, it’s youthful, it’s cool. That’s why I believe the takeover is most definitely coming.
F: I saw the video for “Money Dance,” the song you did with The-Dream. There’s a pretty funny shot in it early on where the camera hangs for a long second on your ankle monitor [Ross was ordered to wear an ankle monitor back in July while he was released on bail from kidnapping and aggravated assault charges]. What was the purpose of that shot? Was it to poke fun at the situation, or to tell people about it?
A shot of Ross' ankle bracelet. From the "Money Dance" video, directed by Hype Williams.
RR: It most definitely was not to poke fun, because this is a very serious situation. But that was the eye and the vision of the iconic director Hype Williams. So I guess he wanted to catch the moment, show it, address it, but do it in a light where you could look at some brighter things that’s going on. So that’s how I took it.
F: You mentioned co-executive producing a record with Diddy. What else is going on in your longstanding partnership?
RR: We’ve been in the studio working on his album. The last few discussions we’ve had were about his Money Making Mitch album. He’s excited about that. He’s got a lot of dope artists on it, dope beats. He was out in Miami and he played me a lot of the music.
His empire is growing bigger than ever. He’s supported me throughout mine, and now he's a Black Bottle Boy ["Black Bottle Boys" is Ross' name for his crew of Luc Belaire Rosé endorsers], helping the huge success of Belaire. He’s a mentor, a big homie, and I salute him.
F: What is the situation with Luc Belaire Rosé? I saw the brand was prominently placed in the “Money Dance” video. What’s going on with that?
A shot of a neon Belaire sign from the "Money Dance" video.
RR: It’s the brand that we love, that we drink, that we support. We flaunt that. We go out, we in the clubs, we partying, we hold our bottles. It’s all about the black bottles, Belaire Rosé.
F: You haven’t been touring that much over the past few years. Are there plans to go out and support the new record?
RR: Yeah. I was just having these conversations over the last three to four weeks about all of the different options and opportunities that are presenting themselves. I love touring, I love going out and seeing different places. I’ve tried to line up all the dope cities. So I’m going to try to put something real cool together, and hopefully we’ll get to go out for the Black Market.
F: One other thing. On the first track on Hood Billionaire, you have Boobie on the phone [Kenneth "Boobie" Williams, who Ross frequently shouts out in songs, and who appears via telephone in several of Ross' songs and skits, was the head of Miami's notorious "Boobie Boys" gang. According to law enforcement, his crew was responsible for 35 murders and smuggling $85 million worth of cocaine in the 1990s. He was sentenced to life in 2000], and he’s been an ongoing presence throughout all your records. What is the latest with him? How’s he doing? Are there any appeals going on on his case?
RR: I haven’t had any updates on his case as of late. I spoke to him a few months ago. His spirits are up and he’s remaining positive. He’s been sending positive words back to the local community, just trying to encourage the youth to make better decisions and use his life as an example, and I think that’s what’s really important about that.
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