I finally understand why 50 Cent keeps hating on Rick Ross. He tried to run the same tactics that he used to get people away from Ja Rule that were successful in the past, and that would have worked if 50 Cent had put out some quality music at the time. Unfortunately for 50 Cent all of Rick Ross' records have debuted at number one on all three of the charts. He can't say the same, his albums continue to drop at a lower point with each release. But Rick Ross is the truth and quite honestly the production work on 50's albums are not as good as this! Rick Ross' latest album, Teflon Don boasts some of the best, if not the best, samples I've heard in quite some time! I had already copped his mixtape and was enjoying the production on that when I decided to stop by hiphopdx.com and check out the latest Rick Ross album. The beats are incredible, and the cameos are incredible.
Jay-Z and Kanye come harder than they do on their own albums! Rick Ross is not the best rapper, by any means, but he does improve with each release. What is so unfair is that since he is on Def Jam he has some incredible beats. One of the commenters over at hiphopdx.com stated that these were beats Biggie should have had back in the day. That is saying a lot when you consider that Biggie had some of the best samples heard so far when he was around. Super High, featuring Ne-Yo is actually the worst song on the record; he really stepped up his game with this album.
You get everything on this record from old school gangsta rap, to the trap, to a hybrid of gangsta rap and the emo stuff you get with Kanye (and to a certain extent, Jay-Z). He comes at you with one hot song after another. Okay that is what is good about the album. On the other hand Rick Ross still has a very, very, long way to go with his lyrics. His flow is questionable and his word could use a lot of work. His metaphors are almost non-existent, and he reminds of you where Jeezy was at when he first came out. Eventually Rick Ross is going to have to get on the level of everyone else in the game, in particular 50 Cent.
The album concepts could use some work as well. Though they are known for their legendary production, he still has songs like Maybach Music 3 and Aston Martin Music that are a desperate attempt at creating a concept. Outside of the production there isn't anything that really separates them from the rest of his work. He should stay at Def Jam as long as possible and use their marketing and production muscle instead of trying to go anywhere else. Considering that he continues to have number one albums on all charts domestically that shouldn't even cross his mind.
One interesting song is Free Mason, in which Rick Ross actually talks about Freemasonry. That song would not be complete without Jay-Z, and his appearance is going to confirm what people are already saying. Jay-Z says that he is not a mason but then says that he never would have made it without sin. As interesting as it is it doesn't appear to be a metaphor or allegory for anything other than what the title implies. His contradictory word play is sure to create more controversy, at least Rick Ross is owning up to what he is talking about in this song. I think I would have more respect for Jay-Z if he simply came out and told us what he is really about, but I also understand the game that Jay-Z is playing to keep the rest of us talking about him. The opening line says "this is for the soldiers that see the sun, at Midnight", so you figure it out. I am going to be a hypocrite and remove the song from my computer and my MP3 player.
No comments:
Post a Comment