Alright, alright. So I know I'm late. I apologize. The holidays are a crazy time where you often forget what you're doing. Also, my sister was moving and I helped her do that. So can someone hand me that late pass?
Anyways, this week's installment of MM focuses on a controversial rap figure – one Richard Ross. In honour of his forthcoming show here in Montreal in mid-January
1. T.I. - Pledge Allegiance To The Swag (feat. Rick Ross)
This marathon-length track serves as a proper introduction to the rapper known as the husky-voiced Richard Ross. Released as a promo single to T.I.'s recent outing No Mercy, the song's infectious chorus as well as Ross's verse make it a mandatory repeat play entry.
2. DJ Khaled - Fed Up (feat. Usher, Young Jeezy, Rick Ross and Drake)
Usher on the hook, Jeezy, Drizzy and Ricky doing their thing. Solid contributions all-around, even though Khaled grates on my nerves in a way others wish they could. What's funny about this one is that 6 months after this track dropped (so just around last summer), Jeezy and Ross ended up beefin' over perceived shots fired on Ross' Teflon Don's "B.M.F. (Blowin' Money Fast)". Joke's on Jeezy, though, as Ross saw Teflon Don go gold while Jeezy's Thug Motivation 103 album has been stuck in limbo as Jeezy's recent string of flop singles have forced him to rethink things out.
3. Chris Brown - Deuces (remix) (feat. Drake, T.I., Kanye West, Fabulous, Rick Ross and Andre 3000)
This Grammy-nominated hit (from Brown and Tyga's Fan Of A Fan mixtape) gets the extended treatment, as well as an all-too-rare verse from 3 Stacks and a solid contribution from both Ross and Kanye West, who's punchline-heavy delivery is a winner. Ross also means business. If they'd drop Fabulous off of this track then it'd be one of the best collabos in recent history.
4. Drake - Find Your Love (remix) (feat. Rick Ross)
Drake. Rick Ross. Rapping about designer bags and finding your heart. Beat is hot. So are the verses. The video for the original? Not so hot.
5. Bugatti Boyz (Diddy and Rick Ross) - Another One
The collaboration inbetween P. Diddy The Third and Correctional Officer Ricky that begun on the Teflon Don track "No. 1" is going to be turned into an EP sometime in 2011 under the Bugatti Boyz moniker (which has inspired me to start a rap outfit called The Yugo-Lada Menz), and this banging track serves as a proper introduction. It's too bad they shot a video for this and it looks so terrible.
6. Kanye West - Devil In A New Dress (feat. Rick Ross)
Magic happens when Yeezy and Ross hang out. They managed to bang out one of the best tracks off of this year's Teflon Don (the sublime "Live Fast, Die Young") as well as this slow-burning highlight from Kanye's MBDTF album. Originally released as a solo track as part of Kanye's G.O.O.D. Friday series, The Bink!-produced beat has a great cinematic quality to it, complete with record scratches and (artificial) degradation. The addition of Offier Rick to the album version completes this track and his voice matches the mood created by the instrumentation perfectly.
7. Diddy-Dirty Money - Angels (remix) (feat. Rick Ross)
Forget the autotune Diddy on the chorus, this is all about Ross and his blazing hot first verse ("Rick the ruler/my moolah produce the carats" etc.). The beat screams late-night chill-out and the Notorious BIG-less version of the song (Diddy continues to milk his dead best friend a decade-and-a-half later with this recycled verse from BIG's "My Downfall") is the superior version.
8. Rick Ross - B.M.F. (Blowin' Money Fast) (feat. Styles P)
Through a series of strange decisions, I ended up in NYC this summer for a week, and this track (along with Drake's "Miss Me") was blaring from every single car stereo near the Harlem hostel I was staying at. A true banger (with production from new-kid-on-the-block Lex Luger, who also produced WACKA FLACKA "I'm Not In The Booth Trying To Goddamn Rap Big Words" FLAME's "Hard In Da Paint"), Ross tries to distance himself from his correctional officer past by claiming allegiance to the incarcerated scarfaces in the chorus. Ross subsequently claimed that people were misunderstanding the meaning of the song and it was a cautionary tale, but eh. I don't even think he knows what he's talking about. Go ahead, I dare you to listen and not feel propelled to bob your head.
FILES REMOVED DUE TO DMCA TAKEDOWN NOTIFICATION
Ah ha ha ha.
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