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As the clock edges toward midnight, the Rick Ross rap army slowly invades the sedate lobby of Miami’s Doubletree Grand Hotel. A cloud of sweet-smelling smoke puffs out of a sentry line of sleek SUVs while a pair of dancers in teeny skirts and stilettos shivers in the hotel’s plush armchairs. Ballers flash gold teeth as they munch on greasy food in the bar, waiting for the signal to head back out.
Ross, aka William Roberts, 26, surveys the swirling commotion—all in anticipation of his
long-awaited label-signing party at South Beach
hotspot Opium Garden—from the cab of a tricked-out white semi truck parked out front.
He’s one of the first stars to come out of Slip-N-Slide’s (Trick Daddy, Trina) partnership with Def Jam. And for that, a celebration is in order. “We all like family, and everybody has a role to play. I play my position, and they play theirs,” says Ross of the crowd, most of them from his ’hood, Miami’s tough Carol City. “I respect them and they respect me, ’cause I rose through the ranks of the streets. I ain’t get here for just rapping.”
With his raw, relentless voice, Ross has
carved that journey into his music—and his arm. A tattoo of the Carol City zip code (33055) and AK-47s bisects the flesh running from left elbow to wrist, while an image of Jesus rests on the right. In one breath, Ross credits notorious Miami gang leader Kenneth “Boobie” Williams (now serving a life sentence for murder) as his most important mentor. In the next, Psalm 27:2 rolls off his tongue: When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.
“I recite that two or three times a day, because it applies to all those niggas, all those haters, all those police, and all those doubters,” says Ross.
With his major-label debut, Port of Miami, on its way and his hit single, “Hustlin’,” making
waves, Ross is set to silence any skeptics once
and for all, though he won over Miami long ago. “He’s more than an artist around here,” says Poe Boy Entertainment vice president Gucci Pucci. “He’s a movement.”
Ross sees it in less philosophical terms. “These my niggas right here,” he says, reaching for the door of the white truck. “They not going to let me out of their sight, because I’m the only thing they got going in their life.” Just like it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a ’hood to build a rapper.
Article tags: Rick Ross Vibe Next, Rick Ross Hustlin', Rick Ross And Jay-Z
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Comments
1.
Yugos Black says:
Hey Whatz up Brothers and Sisters here.Rick Ross is tha man of tha moment and u can only feel and see that when u listen to his lyrics properly.Rick tha Risle, We all love u loads here in London England and down town in Nigeria Africa.
June 14, 2007 at 9:33 am
2.
Crymzon says:
Datz wut itz nigga...im from Carol city 2....MIAMI FO LIFE NIKKUH
May 22, 2007 at 11:37 am
3.
alex says:
rooossssss =) i looove you baby . you soooo fly, i want to make you mine
April 12, 2007 at 9:43 pm
4.
CONLON says:
ROSS$$$ man I love you dude please come to the Scranton/Wilkes Barre area we all love you man you hustled from the start nigga nobody f**ks w/ you 305 dade county b**ch come get it blahhh
April 12, 2007 at 9:31 pm
5.
ross is god says:
my boy ross i love u man i think that you are the greatest rapper ever and i wish you would come to scranton/wilkes barre sometime to perform we all love you man......305 dade county b**ch come get it blahhhhh
April 12, 2007 at 3:26 pm
6.
JerzeeBoy says:
BIG BOSS RO$$, WHAT IT DO G? WHEN YOU GONNA TOUCH DOWN IN BRICK CITY NEWARK,NJ? WE WAITING FOR YOU. I SAW YOU AT A SHOW DOWN IN ATL, COME SHOW JERZY SOME LOVE. IT'S ALOT OF HUNGRY DUDES HERE, NOT ON THE RAP TIP YA DIG!! ANYWAY 973 BRICK CITY CREW GET AT US BABY!!
STANDING ON MY SQUARE AND CLIMBING THE LADDER
JERZEEBOY
March 6, 2007 at 1:51 pm
7.
sticks says:
yo rick ross u looking good on that picture come back to richmond,va nigga i like how u was going to all the hoods u a true gangsta
March 6, 2007 at 10:52 am
8.
VictorVargas says:
"He's more than an artist...he's a movement"? These rap niggas are really taking themselves too seriously. Whats the difference between his "Movement" and The DipSet's,Jezzy's,The Clipse (basically any rapper that is releasing new music)?
February 10, 2007 at 1:15 pm
9.
Red says:
b**ch ass lil nigga
f**kin pussy
February 1, 2007 at 10:22 am