Rick Ross

While Southern rap gained traction through talents from Atlanta and Houston, Rick Ross restored Miami's prominence on the national hip-hop map via the 2006 platinum single "Hustlin'," which introduced his larger-than-life persona and gravel-voiced accounts of the gains and dangers tied to narcotics distribution. The MC not only anchored himself as a rap mainstay but also crossed over as an improbable mainstream success. His first full-length Port of Miami and each of the nine studio albums that followed, among them the Grammy-nominated God Forgives, I Don't (2012) and Port of Miami 2 (2019), all landed inside the Billboard 200 Top Ten, fueled by lavish, RIAA-certified singles such as "The Boss" and "Aston Martin Music." Operating through his Maybach Music imprint—an imprint that has appeared on nearly every Ross release since 2009—he elevated the profiles of Gunplay, Wale, and Meek Mill. His own guest appearances in turn powered tracks for DJ Khaled (starting with "We Takin' Over"), Kanye West ("Monster"), Maybach's French Montana ("Pop That"), Ace Hood ("Bugatti"), and Chris Brown ("New Flame"). Ross extended his run into the following decade via 2021's Richer Than I Ever Been along with joint efforts alongside Dr. Dre, Freddie Gibbs, and Meek Mill.

Born William Roberts in Clarksdale, Mississippi, he spent his formative years in Carol City, Florida, a struggling northern suburb of Miami. Shaped by Luther Campbell and the Notorious B.I.G., Roberts took up rapping in the mid-'90s and assembled the local crew Carol City Cartel. Adopting his stage name from Los Angeles drug lord "Freeway" Rick Ross, he logged a short tenure on Houston's Suave House Records, the former home of 8Ball & MJG, before landing on Miami's Slip-N-Slide Records, home to Trick Daddy and Trina. Throughout the early-to-mid 2000s, the rapper built a regional following by touring alongside Trick Daddy and contributing guest spots to several Slip-N-Slide projects.

When the Runners-crafted "Hustlin'" drew attention from industry figures as Ross's first lead single, a bidding war erupted that featured offers from Bad Boy's Sean "Diddy" Combs and Irv Gotti of The Inc (formerly Murder Inc.). Def Jam chief and veteran MC Jay-Z nevertheless secured Ross with a multimillion-dollar contract. Bolstered by Def Jam support, the Miami anthem "Hustlin'" received fresh promotion; by June 2006 it had gone gold and peaked at number seven on the R&B/hip-hop chart, then achieved platinum certification in August, the same month Port of Miami arrived and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. Follow-up single "Push It," which nodded to Scarface, prolonged the album's run and became Ross's second Top Ten R&B/hip-hop entry. The chart-topping efforts Trilla (2008) and Deeper Than Rap (2009) cemented his commercial viability, while "The Boss," "Here I Am," and "Magnificent" expanded his tally of Top Ten R&B/hip-hop singles. Still tied to Slip-N-Slide and locked into a long-term Def Jam arrangement, he also founded Maybach Music Group and fielded frequent requests for guest verses. Khaled notched further successes with Ross-assisted cuts including "We Takin' Over," "I'm So Hood," and "Out Here Grindin'."

Ross maintained a firm hold on the marketplace through the 2010s. Early in the decade he came within a hair of the Billboard 200 summit with Teflon Don (2010) before returning to the top with God Forgives, I Don't (2012) and Mastermind (2014), earning his initial Grammy nominations in the process. "I'm on One," another Khaled collaboration, contended for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, and God Forgives, I Don't later received a Best Rap Album nod. Ubiquitous on urban radio, Ross added to his hit catalog with "Super High," "B.M.F. (Blowin' Money Fast)," "Aston Martin Music," and "Diced Pineapples," while sharing the spotlight on staples from Khaled (including "All I Do Is Win"), Kanye West ("Monster"), Lil Wayne ("John"), Ace Hood ("Bugatti"), Chris Brown (the Grammy-nominated "New Flame"), and Maybach artists Wale, Meek Mill, and French Montana. Through 2014 he also guided three volumes of the Maybach Self Made series into the Billboard 200 Top Ten. The label enjoyed parallel success with solo projects from Wale, Meek, and Montana, as well as Ross's own Hood Billionaire, his second release of 2014 and fifth solo LP to reach number one.

Between 2015 and 2019 Ross managed only one additional lead single inside the R&B/hip-hop Top Ten—"Purple Lamborghini," a Skrillex collaboration from Suicide Squad: The Album that earned a Grammy nomination for Best Song Written for Visual Media. He nevertheless stayed prominent through featured appearances, most notably on Khaled's "Do You Mind," and continued to place albums. After Black Market (2015) closed his Def Jam chapter at number six, he moved to Epic, briefly reuniting with former Def Jam executive L.A. Reid.

His Epic era began in earnest with Rather You Than Me, which entered at number three in 2017, and continued with 2019's Port of Miami 2. The sequel maintained his streak of Top Ten albums while marking his most introspective work to date, addressing the prior year's loss of longtime associate and manager Black Bo as well as a personal health scare. Lead single "Gold Roses," featuring Drake, picked up a 2020 Grammy nomination for Best Rap Song. Additional 2019 collaborations included "Entanglement" with August Alsina and "Pinned to the Cross" featuring Finn Matthews. The latter track, together with the 2021 Jazmine Sullivan and 21 Savage-assisted "Outlawz," previewed Ross's eleventh album, Richer Than I Ever Been, which arrived in December 2021 carrying appearances from Wiz Khalifa, the-Dream, Future, Timbaland, and Wale. In 2022 Ross joined Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, John Legend, and Fridayy on DJ Khaled's gold-certified "God Did." The following year brought "The Game," a collaboration with Fat Joe and the LOX, along with Too Good to Be True, a joint project with Meek Mill that yielded the Billboard-charting "Shaq & Kobe."