Club Shay Shay - Rick Ross

Episode Date: January 18, 2021

On episode 17 of Club Shay Shay, Shannon welcomes in Grammy-nominated rapper, multi-platinum songwriter, NYT bestselling author, record label executive, and the biggest boss in the game: Rick Ross.They discuss Rozay’s many business ventures, from the first paycheck he ever earned to his mobile health app, Jetdoc. Ross shares values his family and community instilled in him growing up in Carol City, FL, and details lessons he learned from about sacrifice, negotiation, & failure on his way to success. Shannon & Ross go through Miami music history, discussing how artists like JT Money & Trick Daddy paved the way for Ross’s sound. They also touch on his early career, collaborating with idols like 8Ball & MJG and Scarface, his meeting with Jay-Z before signing with Def Jam for his first album, and much more. A loyal Miami Heat & Dolphins fan who briefly attended Albany State on a football scholarship, Ross helps Shannon break down the latest in sports news, touching on James Harden’s trade to the Nets, the top 5 NBA players of all time, the NFL GOAT, and how Dolphins offensive lineman Richmond Webb inspired a line in Ross’s first hit and Shannon’s workout song “Hustlin’”.#DoSomethinB4TwoSomethin & Follow Club Shay Shay:                                                                 https://www.instagram.com/clubshayshayhttps://twitter.com/clubshayshayhttps://www.facebook.com/clubshayshayhttps://www.youtube.com/c/clubshayshay Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Presented by Elf Beauty, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. Hello, welcome to another edition of Club Che Che. I am your host, also the proprietor of Club Che Che, and the guy that's coming by for a drink and conversation today. Wow, I got a good one, guys. And he really doesn't need any introduction, but I'm going to introduce him anyway. Grammy-nominated rapper, multi-platinum songwriter, New York Times bestselling author, record labor executive, the biggest boss in the game. You know him as Rosé Renzel, Rick Ross. Sacrifice, hustle pay the price Want a slice, got to roll the dice That's why all my life, I've been grinding all my life

Mr. 305 M.I.A. yo, what it do? Man, I'm happy to be here, my brother You've been shining a long time And I'm happy to come shine with you Bro, I really appreciate this Ross, I'm going to be all over the place I'm not going in any particular direction ross i'm gonna be all over the place i'm not going in any particular direction but i'm gonna be all over the place so just bear with me and like i said thank you thank you thank you for stopping by and give me a few moments of your time man i'm

with you let's go let's do it let's first i want to thank you for turning out the vote in Georgia, because for the first time, Georgia went for a blueprint, a Democratic president. First time since 92. We've got a Democratic Senate first time in two decades. And you and T.I. Luda, Keisha Lance Bottoms, Stacey Abrams, LaTorcia Brown, you guys turned up, showed up, showed out. So I want to thank you for that from the bottom of my heart. Well, you know, that's well appreciated. And I'm going to just let you know, me being who I am and in the position I am, it's always about my people. You know what I mean?

I'm going with the voice of the people, and that's what they wanted. So that's what we had to do. Also can't leave out Killer Mike because, you know, he's always been boots to the ground trying to do the right thing by the people in Georgia, especially the African-American community and the minority. So Killer Mike, can't forget you, bro. Without a doubt.

Rick, let's start with your business ventures. You got a lot of irons in the fire. You got wing stops. I think you have over 25 wing stops. Checkers, you have your own strand of marijuana cookies. You got the Way of the Ways, a collab with D-Wade. What made you decide to get involved in so many different businesses basically right away? Honestly, because it felt natural to me. It didn't really feel like no work. Honestly, because it felt natural to me.

It didn't really feel like no work. Right. If you notice everything that I ventured with or I made a partnership with, it was something that came naturally to me or something that I possibly was already doing. Right. Just wasn't doing it the right way. Right. And the first opportunity I got where I could line myself up with some of the greatest in the business. When you speak of cookies, cookies and burner, that's number one in the business. When you speak of my sneaker partnership with D. Wade, that's number one in Miami and worldwide, but just D. Wade, what he brought to my city worldwide,

as well as the Bel Air, the Bumble Rum, the MyJetDoc, the Health App. Everything that I'm doing is really coming natural to me. So it's nothing I have to go out my way to represent or do during the day. So you were in the game doing some things that probably wasn't on the up and up. So you already have from a standpoint, you already understood how business was supposed to operate, correct? Most definitely, without a doubt. I understood. You got to step out here and take a gamble. Definitely, without a doubt. I understood.

You got to step out here and take a gamble. So I think that's the biggest thing, Ross, because a lot of people are afraid of failure. And I think if you're afraid of failure, you're never going to succeed because you're afraid to take that step because you're like, man, I might fall. Well, climbing to the top, you will fall. You're going to fall, but you got to get back up,

dust your knees off, make sure your shirt looking good, and get right back on the track because you will fall. You're going to fall, but you got to get back up, dust your knees off, make sure your shirt looking good, and get right back on the track because you will fall. That's what come with the game. Accept that, but just make sure when you get back up, you learn from that and you don't fall back in the same place. Ross, I heard you say something about when you did your businesses and what you did for your family. You say that you put them on, so therefore you don't have to constantly come out of your pocket and give them family. You say that you put them on, so therefore you don't have to constantly come out of your pocket and give them money. You gave them an avenue so they can do their own thing. Right. Most definitely. And that goes for my little ones as well. I'm teaching my younger ones, you got to put yourself in a position where you can decide your income. You

can make as much as you want versus just waiting for, you know, me. And that started, of course, with my family, my immediate family. And I was blessed to have a mother that was highly intelligent. She had made degrees in so many different things, as well as my sister. Now, okay, let's put all those skills to use and let's turn up. And that's what we did. I empowered my mom with the empire, my sister, she doing her own thing and we all winning. Well, Ross, you have a very small family, but as you start to branch out, how did you avoid the jealousy? How did you avoid to the family members like Ross, you got it, let me get it. Well, you know uh i think for one the person i am and the person i was before i

got paper it was always about honor it wasn't necessarily about the money you could have been my big cousin in the family who went to the league and we wouldn't have rolled you like that because that's just how my family was it ain't't really about the, you know, it's about going fishing on the weekend and all that. So you just gotta, if I feel like a person is weak, if they just succumb to jealousy, you gotta exclude them out of the equation. Right. And you can't even think twice about that.

But sometimes, Ross, you don't know they're jealous until you get something for them to be jealous about. See, if you still on their level, there is no jealousy because you right where they are you ask when you start to move without them that's without a doubt and that's something that you just gonna have to learn as you go but that's something you can expect and uh you ain't necessarily got to anticipate it but expect it so when it presents itself to you you deal with it and keep going. Was it hard to say no? Because a lot of, you see, I see it talked,

I know a lot of athletes and for myself, it's sometimes it's hard to say no because you know, you get that, boy, I changed your diapers. Boy, you remember that time I took you to the store and bought those shoes? Man, you remember I bought you them pack of cookies? They guilt trip you.

Are you, it's on here, have 500. Leave me alone. How do you say no ross i don't i don't you know i make sure i was always in a position where i showed love right it wasn't really necessarily my move if he was playing chess right i'm i'm always a player head and so if you come you know if it come to a time where you feel like you got to say no, don't even think twice about it. Follow your heart. What was the very first business you ever started, be it legal or illegal? Oh, man.

Man, you know, I done tried too many different things, man. I always considered myself to be a boss. I was always willing to start at the bottom. considered myself to be a boss. I was always willing to start at the bottom. You know, like I, like I say, I started working at a car wash at 13 from eight in the morning to 8 PM on the weekends, I made $30 plus tips, you know, but, uh, in a month or two, I knew how to, if you was a big dope boy, I knew how to go fill your car for you. I had your CDs organized, your cassettes organized for you when you got back. So I went out the way and that just applied to everything I did. I'm going to go a little further than maybe the next person did. Ross, I always tell, when I talk to kids, I say, look,

experience a lot of different things, have a lot of different jobs because what you do as a child will let you know what you don't want to do as an adult see when i did businesses i knew what i didn't want to do but ross unlike you i don't know if i really ever truly said you know what i want to be the ceo i want to be a boss i might you know what made you say you know what working for somebody is cool but if i wanted to have people working with me that would be even doper. Oh, man. I knew that once I started working at the car wash. So you wanted to own the car wash? Yeah, when I was working at the car wash. Because once I started working at the car wash, I realized how the boss is certain dudes,

is certain clients that are pulling, the ones who pulled in them big Lexuses. That's before we even knew how to pronounce Lexus. Right. He called it the laser, boy. He in the laser. You know what I'm saying? When they pulled in, he picked certain people to wash those cars.

Correct. And they the ones who got the biggest tips. Right. So by me being one of the youngest out there at the car wash at the gas station, oh, man, I'm, you know, they sending me to the Toyota Celicas. Well, you know, they got them $2 tips. But guess what? I'm going to still lock them in, too, and make sure when mom come back next week,

she going to request me, too. But I'm trying to work my way up to the top. Right. So what was your first loss in business that you was like, okay, that was a mistake, chalk that one up to the game. I'm going to learn from that. You know, possibly when I started cutting grass with some of the dudes in the neighborhood, I done went out and cut grass.

I remember, you know, it was a successful lawn service, you know, two, three blocks over from them. They had them three three four big trucks you know what i'm saying yeah it was one of them type of situations so i'm like yo okay um i want to go work with y'all you know what i mean they like we ain't sure we'll let you know when we need you you know they'll put you on that waiting list i might have waited a month and when they finally told me come on you could come get on the truck tomorrow morning. I forgot to ask how much I was getting paid.

Uh-oh. They did a number on you, huh? Woo. Boy, they worked this shit out of Rose. Man, they worked this shit out of me that Saturday, that Sunday. And they paid me the following week. Right. Or when I got that envelope, that envelope was so thin. I couldn't execute none of them plans I had.

But that made me say, you know what? I was young too. And I said, before you do anything else, you got to make it clear how much they going to give you. What's the pay? What's the hours? Oh, that's mandatory. Definitely.

That was mandatory at a young age because I see what it's like because I went out and sacrificed. Man, I was so tired. I'm talking about I went home. I ain't even play Nintendo. You know what I'm saying? I lay straight out.

That's two days in a row. Waited a whole nother week to get that check. Man, I might have got $15. They definitely caught you slipping, Ross, because you know when you do a job like that, you're supposed to get paid out for the job. That ain't supposed to carry over the whole week. That ain't supposed to carry over. That's what I said.

That's what I said. They took advantage of young Rose. But that was valuable teaching. So now when you go into business where there'd be a building or you're trying to get a building or you're trying to start something okay what are the what what are we doing here now so this is the price and this is the size of the building and this is this and this is that so you learn from that experience i did and now

when i go and sit down in meetings the first thing i let them know is what excites me right and nine times out of ten it's a dollar figure if it don't make dollars it don't make sense oh man i just what you know we may be able to work something out but i gotta be clear and make it clear this is what excites roseé. And as soon as I say that number, it's like a bop go off in the confetti falls. Let me ask you a question. Don't you want me excited? They better.

They had you there for a reason. You feel me? Have you ever thrown out a number and they say, well, Mr. Ross, we appreciate your service. We appreciate you taking the time, but that's not where we are right yet. Yeah. I done threw a number out several times.

You know what I mean? Sometimes it then came back around. Matter of fact, a lot of times we come back around and we connect. And a lot of times I done threw't throw a number out there before, they moved a little slow and I went up on the number. Oh, okay. And they met me there. I actually had a film that was filmed at my estate.

Right. And I threw a number out there. I say, this is a huge production. This shouldn't be much. Hey, I understand what you guys need. That's 2.5 mils. Yeah, 2.5 million. Yeah, most definitely.

That's it. Oh, and they slow walked you. Oh, yeah, they moved a little slow. Okay. So you picked the pace up on them. It made them catch up to you. Oh, man. We tapped out at 2.75, baby. Okay. You see? Now, see, if you'd have ran from the beginning,

you'd have saved yourself a quarter mil. It's just like playing chess. You got to make some good moves, but save your best. You understand? Because when you go down and you negotiate, it's a lot of ways people in brands and companies negotiate. A lot of companies use time. Right.

Because here's the thing. They have the money. They counting on you to become impatient and to take less than what you're probably worth. Because like you said, they have time. They look at it like we have what he's worth. Exactly. take less than what you're probably worth because like you said they have time they have they look at it like we have what he's exactly what what's your to date what's your proudest business venture well well you know you know i love everything i do i can't i can't even front you know i'm saying

everything i put my heart into it all but But my latest business venture, my JetDoc, which is a health app. Okay, talk to us about the health app. You already know, my JetDoc, this is a health app. You know, 10 years ago, I went through having seizures back to back. You know, and so what it did was, you know, I started working out. I got healthier. But the experience that touched me the most throughout the whole situation was the older people that I would meet sitting in the doctor's waiting room in the office. You know, the type of doctors I'm going to see is for your brain. And so the situation is a lot serious.

You're sitting with a lot older people. It's a lot serious. You're sitting with a lot older people. Older people want to talk to the youngest dude in the room and the conversations we will have. And so this is what really made me want to be a part of this new app, myjetdoc, jetdoc.com. In three minutes, you can have a doctor virtually on your phone. You describing your situation.

Yo, I just slip and fell. This is how I'm feeling. Or it could be a grandparent. Yo, my heart is feeling like this. I need to talk to somebody right now. Or it may be a situation like mine where you pretty much know what's going on, but you just need some personal advice. And then you could go get the prescription right up the street. They'll have it filled up waiting on you right up the street. my jet doc this is my first app my first technology and i feel it's really for my people and my people need this so if i'm if i'm if i'm reading you correctly and i think i am on this situation a lot of the things that you become involved in is through personal experience i mean

you like wings hell let me start a wing stop i like this kind of beverage let me start this kind of beverage i'm going to see a doctor about yada yada yada let me start this exactly exactly that's just me following my heart that's just something that's oh i'm with that that's eat let's do it i'm with it i don't feel like yo i'm not going out my way that's just something that's, oh, I'm with that. That's it. Let's do it. I'm with it. I don't feel like, yo, I'm not going out my way. That's just a part of my, I'm going to talk about my jet doc all day. I just left the gym. I'm over here. I'm over there. That's a part of my conversation because so many people opened up to me after I went public saying, yo, I suffered from seizures. You'll be surprised how many artists pulled me to the side.

Yo, big homie, I had a seizure and they found me on the toilet eight hours later. I never told nobody this the situation. Yo, man, I never knew that. You know what I mean? I'm like, yo, you know, it's just certain things we gotta converse about, we gotta communicate. And that's why I felt I had to do this.

So, you know know it's a lot of people that want to be private they don't want to walk into the emergency room they don't want to go and get this prescription they want to do it in the privacy through their own phone i get it here it is jet doc you mentioned your health right were. Is that one of the reasons that you decided to say, you know what, I'm accomplishing all of this. I'm accumulating this wealth. I got all these possessions. But hell, my health is in the trash,

and I'm not going to be around to enjoy it. Is that what forced Rick Ross to get in shape, better shape? Of course. Of course. Why accumulate everything you can imagine just to drop dead and have a stroke? You got it, man. I'm one of them people who want to call my shots, so I'm going to enjoy life. I'm still going to get that 10-piece lemon pepper. You feel me? That fried corn, you know, a little cheese on the French fries too. I'm going to still do that. But what I got to do those other six days out the week is push myself.

Right. I got to push myself in the right direction. And that's what I've been doing. I'm still happy. I'm much healthier. I'm 85 pounds lighter. I'm going to stop having seizures. I'm just sharing, you know, what I'm doing and what's working with me for everybody that come to my platform.

sharing you know what i'm doing and what's working with me for everybody that come to my platform do you believe had you not had the medical emergencies that you had you would have changed your diet you would have changed your lifestyle i doubt it i doubt it i was an all-city athlete i made all day class of 1994 um i was always healthy my entire life. So when I had a seizure, I said, you know where that come from? Me not resting, me not sleeping, me sipping lean in the studio at 7 a.m. And, you know, once I told the doctors the way I was sleeping two to three hours at the most a night, he said, I'm surprised it's not much worse. But, you know, the conditions and the things that came about, I most definitely told myself, I got to change right now. Rose came, they can't zip Rose up in a bag. I look too good.

I got too many places to go. You mentioned that you were all day County, Miami, you got a scholarship to Albany state. I know about Albany state because I'm in SIAC. We used to play them. That's right. So did you go to Albany State and other things became a distraction and you left or what transpired with that? You know, what it was is I got a scholarship to Albany State College. I was the only one to leave Miami. I went to Albany State and this was the first time I really went out of town and the first time in really few years that my big homies in my community you know they weren't around me when I came up where I came up from I

was embraced you know I played football I was cool they dressed me up kept money in my pocket this is the first time I'm out of you know I couldn't put that burden on my mom so I'm out of town I ain't got much I'm really starting to have the wrong ideas. I'm finna bring the wrong energy to the campus. I told myself, before you do this and you make a big mistake, just go back and follow your heart. Write your music. You know, I know, you know, football in your heart. I'm a dude that felt I'm the same boss mentality. I'm going to the league. I'm going to the league. I'm gonna play for two seasons, turn up, and I'm gonna go to the league boss mentality. I'm going to the league. I'm going to the league. I'm going to play for two seasons, turn up, and I'm going to go to the league. And once I realized, you know, that wasn't – my heart wasn't there no more,

I came back home and just focused on the music. You know what I'm saying? Albany, southwest rural Georgia, is a lot different than Miami. So that was a culture shock in and of itself. It was – I was – I didn't know what was going on. different than Miami. That was a culture shock in and of itself. I didn't know what was going on. I'm like, yo, you know, they had just had a flood, so they had trailers set up

and it's like, yo, I'm out there. I'm a freshman. They call you a crab. You're a freshman. That's a black college thing. Only HBCUs do that. They don't do that at major universities. That's what they do at HBCU. When do that. They don't do that at major universities. That's what they do at HBCU. When you come in as a freshman, you're a crab.

Best believe it. They came out there and they called me a crab and told me to hold the water button while all the seniors and juniors drank water. You drank from here? While we drank water. Oh, boy. I said, whoa. Yeah, you know what's up. Whoa. But, you know what's up whoa but you know you know I appreciate it you know I understood the brotherhood and I appreciated it you know what I'm saying right but it's just when I went

into that trailer at night by myself you know what I mean the last time you ate during the day was what 3 p.m 4 p.., I'm laying in that trailer hungry. I say, see, they going to make Rosé go do something around me that I don't need to do. So you already, so before you left and went to Albany, so were you writing music? Was music a big part of your life in high school and before you went to Albany?

In high school, I was just making tapes. Okay. You know what I mean? But I most definitely was playing with music. I was playing with music. I knew I wanted to get money. You know what I'm saying? So we was just moving around in the streets, youngsters, but you know, it just looked prosperous. I followed my heart. I went up to Albany State, stayed maybe two months before I came back to Miami. And then, you know, I just got back into what I was doing. You know what I'm saying? Ross, I'm actually glad you did that because I believe had you not did that, you would

have probably had regrets for the rest of your life because that's what my brother, I thought about not going to Savannah State. And he says, go down there, at least go down there. Try it out. If you don't like it, say, you know what? I went to Savannah state. It wasn't for me. You did something else. You go into Albany state. At least you tried it. You realize, man, my heart ain't in this. My heart isn't in this. Like it is music. Let me pack my stuff up before I do something crazy and take my butt back to Miami. That's exactly what it was, my brother.

And that's on everything. I feel the same way. I thank God, you know what I'm saying? I followed my heart and stepped out there. I most definitely love the experience. I still stay in touch with a lot of the homies that I met, some of the older classmates. Oh, do you? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I still stay in touch with a lot of the homies that I met some of the older classmates. Oh, do you? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I still stay in touch with them. You know what I'm saying? You know, them dudes crazy. You know what I'm saying? Them crazy football player dudes,

you know, they crazy. And I just let them know I lead the door. They got an open door policy with me. They can hit me up. I'm always online. Social media just hit me up. You know what I'm saying? Make sure you rep the set and I'm going to pay attention. Ross, I tell people all the time, I said, everybody should get at least a semester of an HBCU to experience what it's like to go to play space, to be in the student union, to be to walk and to see the step shows.

You got to experience that to know his life. It's priceless. It's priceless. And the older you get, when you realize, how do you really value your life? Yeah. A lot of times it's based on memories and experiences. Yes. Where have you been?

What have you seen? And those step shows walking through on that campus, when you see everybody from everywhere else, athletes from everywhere else, when you see the All-Americans, how they barely speak, when the ones that, oh, that's how this go? Okay, I get it. I get it.

Okay, okay. I get it. I get it. You know what I'm saying? And I love it. And I okay, I get it, I get it. You know what I'm saying? And I love it. And I still apply that same mentality and hustle to everything I do today. Born in Mississippi, raised in Carroll City, Florida.

Talk about your upbringing in Carroll City. What was it like? Well, you know, my mother from Mississippi, my father from Florida. And when they got together, you know, they moved straight to Florida. And when they got together, you know, they moved straight to Florida. And growing up in Miami, that's the heart of, you know, right in the 305.

They call it Miami Gardens now. It's right there where the Hard Rock Stadium, home of the Dolphins, is at. Yeah, I grew up right there, two, three blocks away from there. And, you know, just growing up right there, it was everybody, every different ethnicities every background every culture yes race was on my block you was Haitian you was Jamaican you was from Honduras you were from Cuban you was white you was whatever so um I always knew how to get along with every race it's to me long as long as you had, you were solid, you had those morals and principles,

you could get down with us. You could kick it with us straight up. Tell me, talk about some of the values that you learned growing up in Florida and some of the things

that your mom and your father instilled in you at a young age that you carry over to today. It's like, and you partake some of that wisdom

on your own kids. Well, growing up, of course, on your own kids well growing up of course on my block it wasn't about your money it was the way you moved it was the way you know you made people respect your household your family because right next door to me was you know some Jamaicans that I got a lot of wisdom from you know what I'm'm saying? I mean, on the 4th of July, two days before the 4th, they'll bring the goat home. I knew we was going to have some curry goat, you know what I'm saying? Okay, that was up. Yeah, yeah, yeah, straight up. So it was just the way you live. It was your principles and the way you moved. As you got older, I understood what getting money do. I understood when I was riding in my daddy backseat of the Buick, we call it scrappy.

And my homie Jabbar, his daddy had that 500 SEL diesel Benz. With wipers on the headlight. On the headlight. You had to get that. That's old school. I was a youngster. I remember standing in the front of that damn car just looking at it like, boy, what I got to do to get this?

Oh, I get it. You know, and it was just one of them things and I still apply that you know what I mean I still kick it with my same I still go through my same block I still see my same homies and and I let them know it's ain't nothing change ain't nothing change my drive my hunger where we from don't never let getting money make you think something nobody don't change getting money if they want That's what they wanted to act like they was changing. Getting money don't change you. That's what I tell people all the time.

Money makes you more what you already are. If you a jerk, you become a butthole. It might change your area code. It might change your zip code, your bank account, but it don't change the person. Not at all. And that's what I let my homies know. Ain't nothing changed.

I'm the same one. You know what I'm saying? And I love when they make me feel like it ain't changed. Holler at me the same way we used to. You know what I'm saying? That's what I love. I don't get home much, Ross, but they tell you the thing that I like,

they're like, man, Sharp, you hadn't changed. You treat us the same way. If I fool with you, I fool with you. If I didn't, I ain't gonna wait till I get into my 50s to start fooling with you. If I muck with you in high school and elementary, we cool to this day. But if I didn't, we not finna pick up in 2021

where we didn't pick up in 1975. No, I doubt it. I doubt it. No, I doubt it. You cutting into the ones I really love and the ones who've been loyal to me forever time. Right. So you,

you, your heart was in the rap game. Give me some of the rappers and some of the groups that influence Ross and says, okay, I want to do that. I want to move like that. Well,

you know, growing up in Miami, really Florida period dancing was our culture. Right. So watching what Luke did, watching what JT Money did, that was something that- JT Money.

But that Poison- They don't know about JT. They better know about JT, they better know about JT Money. They better know about that, you know what I'm saying? And it's like, that's natural. But my mind frame was on getting money. You know what I'm saying?

I knew I was the fat dude couldn't dress. I knew I wasn't going to be on the dancing vibe. I was going to be the one that came to the party once I got that SEL Deezer, you know what I'm saying? And so once the music changed from, you know, they called it booty shaking. We just called it Miami, the vibe. What Luke did and what JT did did jt played one of the most

important parts of miami history trick daddy took it from there and trick passed the baton to me and that's when i said yo every day i'm hustling we finna get some money we're gonna line the mercedes-benz up we're gonna get man we're gonna get real estate from here all the way to the west coast back to the east coast and anywhere in between we want any businesses we want everything that we wanted we want it we gonna go get it let's do it i bought the checkers right across from the gas station i washed cars at them check i ain't go to wendy's as a youngster you better move to wendy's and spend eight dollars that bag would like if you went to Checkers, you got two bags.

You might have that third one. You absolutely right. I'm just telling you. You know what I'm saying? So when we put that change together, working at the car wash, we finna, hey, man, we finna get something to eat. Who going? You put your $2, $3 in there.

You know, somebody go to checkers and bring it back and we all busted down so that was the very first checkers i went back and got well you know how we do hey i tell you what if you fly i'll buy you know we got to get somebody yeah because hey if i fly they ain't putting nothing in i'm just going to get it go bring it back we gonna do what we do we gonna eat this up we gonna bust it down that's how we do it we family we gonna bust it down you mentioned the the florida rappers obviously luke is where it all started you mentioned jt money 69 boys uh you tricked daddy dollars right what about some of the the west coast some of the new york rappers well you already know I had, I was, I was into it from everywhere. Even when I didn't even listen to the music. I remember being a youngster, walking into the store, buying the

vinyl of a West coast rapper. I still never listened to this album to this day. King T. Okay. King T. He had an orange-fold chrome Dayton's on the front. I bought the album just because of the artwork. I did that with Run DMC, Walk This Way. I seen the vinyl. It was some graffiti with a background. It wasn't one of my best songs, just for the artwork. And that's why I love the music, from the underground artists to the mainstream artists when I was real young elementary listening to KRS-One whatever it was Ice Cube was one of my uh you know uh most

influential artists I just got Eazy-E tattooed on my thigh last night wow that's last night you know what I mean so right um really i just listen to everything a tribe called quest it don't matter jay dilla it don't matter it could have been god damn from it don't i just listen to it if it came on and it had a vibe back it up i want to hear it again what is your response to people saying your style your stature your, the way you move reminds them of Biggie. Well, I can't do nothing but take it as a compliment, but I won't play myself. Big was on something else. You know what I'm saying?

Big was on something else. Big was just something special. That era, the energy, that Tupac, that big era, that big era that big era that Jay-Z imagine what that that cypher was like wow you know and so when I think of the records that they put together the time frame you know just the love that was put into that music you know big was most definitely possibly my greatest self wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news, previews, recaps,

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Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When you look at it, you look at Big big he was unbelievable but he didn't have the he should have had a longer run you're looking at what a five-year period because he came on the scene what like 93 94 it may have been less than that might have been three or four years it may have been three or four years that's what i mean by his impact and influence on the world in such a short time. That shit can't be compared. And it was really, it was really that vacuum field of that Biggie Tupac era. Yes.

At one time you couldn't talk about rap if you wasn't talking about Big and Tupac. Right. It was just that entire era of rap music. Everything else was just some sideline shit. It's kind of like Bird and Magic. You can't mention Bird without talking about Magic. You can't say Magic without saying Bird. When you talk about Biggie,

you can't go without being Tupac. And Tupac, they go, hey, they peanut butter, you got to have them together. You gotta have them together. And of course, they untimely demise man it marked um you know it just the intensity and the fucking the love and hate that was right around there that shit couldn't be matched it still won't be matched again. Let's talk about that. Why is it that the rap game is like that? That everybody, you know, you look at some of these, you know, these young

rappers that, you know, that's losing their life. Why is it like that, Ross? No other make of music have this kind of beef. R&B artists are not getting at each other. You know, pop singers are not getting at each other. What is it about the rap game that make, that guys want to get at each other? Even the gals have beef that they shouldn't have beef with. Man, I know when I asked myself this and I'm just on some reflecting on myself, why, you know, why is it like this?

And I will go back to the beginning of music and I would ask myself and reflect in myself and me personally a lot of times growing up and you don't have nothing music is all you have right and I know I'm speaking for me and my homies I remember when we on one block had to share one of my homie nintendos put it in the plastic bag walk it down here you know but we had our own music right you got you you become a fan you become a supporter you become whatever it is and now where we at um it's a lot of people that still have nothing but music in their opinion and now with this platform, people get to add their opinions to what's going on in this music. And once again, a lot of times you're talking about young dudes making music who don't got nothing else but their music.

So once somebody try to tear that music down, shit, they ready to go burn something down. They ready to run in the capital i remember when ll and uh kumo d you know they had a little b you know kumo d said ll stand for lower level lack luster last least low life lower level okay it was just fun you know what i'm saying wasn't nobody talking about clapping nobody. Ross? No, wasn't nobody doing that then. It was different then. It was different.

It most definitely was a different time. You know, I remember the LL and Kuma. I was a fan of Kuma too. You know what I'm saying? Girls behind me, jock and blind me. No need to remind me who I Moe D2 you know what I'm saying girls behind me jocking blind me no need to remind me who I am

I know you know me that was just one of those things man and now it's just a little different homie this shit these motherfuckers they don't sense nothing they speak in they mind they on IG live I'ma kill you

I'ma clap you I'ma to kill you. I'm going to clap you. I'm going to do this. Somebody else feel it's only right. They respond to it and this and that. No, we moved a little different. We moved. You still got to move in silence. And that, you know what? Social media is a blessing and a curse,

Ross. Because you get guys, okay, some people are not willing to work for what they want i see such a such got it i'm finna run up in his house and go get his you know and and that's always been going on before the rap game right you know motherfuckers been running their houses before the rap game, but now it's glamorized. Yeah. By the rap game. And it's the young brothers that's dying. It's the young Vaughn that's dying. Right. You know what I'm saying? You seeing their family members for weeks behind, you know, grieving their death. Other dudes celebrating it. Jeff, other dudes celebrating it, you know, and it's just something that's being fueled once again by the platform because I wouldn't know these things if it wasn't for the platform. And when I wake up and you hear that and this and that, and damn, you could be in a bad mood.

You could goddamn be emotional. Oh, they responsible for that? I want to see something happen to them. Just based off a post. Your first record deal, you signed with suave house records right how did you get noticed by tony draper um i actually drove out to texas i drove out to texas i'll never forget when i heard eight ball mjg coming out hard coming out hard and i the beats the production i was, who making them beats? Oh, they said it's the dude T-Mix.

Where he from? Memphis. I got family in Memphis. I got family in Mississippi. Where they at? They in Houston. 8 Ball from Memphis? Oh, I'm driving to Houston.

So you just got like, hey, the beat, I like the beats. I need to meet him. Yeah. So you just getting the whip hey, the beat, I like the beats. I need to meet him. Yeah. So you just get in the whip and just hit the road. I just hit the road. Barely had gas money. Pull over at the rest stop.

Rest area. Sleep. Get back on the road. We got to make it happen some way. That's all I want to do. However we got to do it. Let's do it. So you meet, obviously you end up doing a hit

with an eight ball in MJG. So what was that like? Because you, I mean, to meet somebody that you hear and to meet them and you on a track with them, what's that like? Man, that's next level. That's, it's unbelievable. Just like when I went to Houston and I met Tony Draper, It's unbelievable. Just like when I went to Houston and I met Tony Draper, I had one of my homies who was in the penitentiary hit one of his homies that they knew, told him I was in the city. I pulled up, played some music, and it went from there. That same weekend, somebody introduced me.

I pulled up to the restaurant where Scarface was at. You know, Scarface or the Ghetto Boys. Yeah, I know, baby. You know, yeah yeah that's unbelievable so and it just took time I came back years later did a collaboration with 8 Ball MJG did a collaboration with Scarface and I brought these same memories up y'all remember sitting in the car with me man that man I just pray I just pray I ain't come off as a crazy young nigga man and y'all just knew I it was in my heart and I just pray. I just pray I ain't come off as a crazy young nigga, man, and y'all just knew. It was in my heart, and I just was trying to tell y'all, boy,

I ain't going to stop till I'm on. So have anyone done to you what you did? Just pull up? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And you know, that's one thing I always told myself because it took me so long to get on. I told myself that I wanted to help as many artists just on some cool shit. We ain't got to get money. You could just come to the studio. We could smoke. We could listen to beats and vibe. And once I got in a position, that's what I began doing. I remember when I first reached out to Wiz before he was before he had a hit record he said he thought he was being catfish when I came at him on Twitter he didn't even believe me I flew him out I'll never forget I flew him out I flew Currency

out I flew him out at the same time we did a remix just ride around in the bins to one of my records Super High when I flew Meek out when I flew flew Wale out, and the list just go on. And that's how I did most of my collaborations. I mean, you got to understand, Z-Ross, I think that's why you've been blessed, because you paid it forward. You didn't have to do that. And for you to take it upon yourself to say, hey, come on out here. Hey, let's get together.

Let's link up. We ain't got to do no music. Let's out here come hey let's get together let's link up we ain't got to do no music let's just hey let's just vibe let's just let's do what we do and just and we go from there and for it to turn out to what it the way it has and and and still to this day i know what it's like being a young artist it ain't got to be about no music you know i'm in miami right now roddy rich came to my house it wasn't even a week ago. Him and his crew came to my house and we just sat in the studio, not playing no music, just on some kicking it, some game, some advice. If I was, oh, this your first year, second year, third year, whatever it is, this the play. Oh, think about doing this, this.

And we just spent hours having a conversation just on some different shit. You know, just investments, different ventures, and not even on no music. It ain't just got to be about music. Every time we get together as artists, we ain't got to try to profit or benefit off each other. We can just share a game. Your next deal you

with slip and slide records trick that implies uh trina pitbull what was it like working alongside them and what was it like touring with trina and uh and a trick well you know uh i was writing i was sitting in the studio helping you know just writing just writing for years. You know, Trina, she always been super cool. She always been a beautiful spirit. Fine as hell when she walk in and just, you know, giggle real cool. So I always, she always been A1 on my list. Trick Daddy, you already know what it was. He took me out on the road a couple summers, you know,

and it was just, once it was time for me to step up, it was either time to boss up. You know what I'm saying? Straight up. It's time to go now. I done been in the game 10 years. Still behind the scenes. It's time to get some money.

It's time to make my own records. It's time to do, you know, touch the people in my own way. And that's what I finally did. But other than that, just being on the road with Trick, you already know what that's like. You already know. You get to go in the club, see what it's like. Niggas throwing bottles. Niggas coming up about that thing, you already know what that's like. You already know. You get to go in the club, see what it's like. Niggas throwing bottles, niggas coming up

about that thing, you know. And then just seeing what real fan loyalty is. Trick used to get booked every weekend in Tampa. And I'm like, damn, four weekends in a month. It's the same motherfuckers coming to the, oh man,

this is something different. I could get booked in the same city fourers coming to the oh man it's something different i could get put in the same city four times a month this was this retreat that he did it was a certain part of carolina and tampa after working behind the scenes what gave you the courage and what made you say you know what damn behind the scenes i need to be in the front. I need to be on the track. You know, that was always in my heart. I just felt like the time had came. You know, I did a lot of writing for a lot of different artists from New York all the way down.

And, you know, I ain't getting no joy out of that. You know, it's time to really step up. You know what I'm saying? And, you know, for the pieces that fell together, that Every Day I'm Hustlinling shout out to the runners that was that first record that kicked that door in for me and after that just all my experience of writing records and how easy it was for me to write songs you know because i could write a goddamn album bulk of material in one night if i album 14 records i could do 15 records in 24 hour span and by me doing that for so long once the door got kicked open for me that's when

the major key to this for artists is when the producers want to work with you right that's what's got to happen the producers got to say i'm going to give you this heat because you could be a young artist and go sit with a producer he not gonna play you that ain't shit he not gonna do it right he's saving that for jay-z and nas for kanye for pharrell for rick ross and once i got that dough kicked in, the producers came to the table, and that's when I went to writing all them records, man, and we took off. You mentioned the song that got it all started. It's still all the songs you've done, Ross. That's my jam. I still play that. I don't really listen to a whole lot of music when I

work out. But if hustling comes on, I'm going to move some weight. I'm about to turn up in there. Can I sell 45 that white on white? Hey, I'm Ricky Ross. That white on white, man. That white on white. I'm going to tell you something. That white on white, what inspired me to get that, I may have got that BMW maybe a year before we actually filmed a video. But when I was a youngster, the Dolphins player,

they had an offensive lineman by the name of Richmond Webb. I know Webb, he came out with me, I know Webb. So I was a youngster. And when the Dolphins used to practice, when they left, all us on the block used to just come stand there and watch them ride by. Right. Webb had a Benz, white on white,

with them white rims when you talk to him. He don't even know. He inspired that. And I said, boy, when I get some paper, the AMG white Tudor Benz he had, that shit blowed my mind. It blowed my mind. Richmond Webb, he was a left tackle.

Yeah, I know Webb, same name, Texas A&M. We came out together, same draft, 1990. Oh, man. Rose, check this out. The thing about that, I love white on white, but boy, you can't wear no blue jeans because your blue jeans going to bleed on them damn hides. And now your feet blue.

Man, yes they will. You can't wear no black. You had to put that towel down. You had to put that towel down. You had to let them girls know. You can't piss on these seats, baby. You can't do it. Not today. It's got to be. You got to have

on khaki, put a towel down, or white shorts. Anything with color going to bleed on them seats. It's going to bleed on them seats. That denim is most definitely going to bleed on them seats. You ain't lying. When hustling, did you know hustling was going to be what it was? I did. Because when I got the beat, drove up to a trina show and i wrote the first verse

on the way to the show when i got there i really didn't have my own show to perform i told the dj to play the beat play track number seven okay he could put it on that thing came on and i rapped the first verse and i never forget how it was one dude in that crowd and how he looked at me he looked at me like boy you're gonna be the biggest to ever do this. So I took the record, went back to Miami, finished the song. It was on. Once you got that taste, once that record hit the airwaves. It was over.

Raw's life has never been the same. I never knew. Y'all had to fed me ramen noodles too long. It was time for that rainbow trout. It was time for them lemon pepper wings. It was time for that spinach dip from Houston's, baby. I said, I ain't going back. I need that Branzino fish. Okay.

You end up signing with Jay-Z, Def Jam. Is it true that there was a bidding war? Def Jam, Murder, Inc., Bad Boy. Yeah. How did you ultimately decide to go with Jake? Well, it was a huge bidding war. Jimmy Iovine, Tom Wally, over at Warner. It was a bunch of different names. But ultimately, when I went and sat down with Jay-Z, it was Jay-Z, L.A. Reid, my brother DJ Khaled. He was in there. And, you know, I just basically told him, you know, just for everybody that may think this is a one hit or one album wave, y'all better know this is a whole nother type vibe right here. Rosé finna outlast everybody.

I'm finna going. I'm coming in the game. I'm kicking in the door whoever they think the biggest i'm gonna diss them just to get everybody attention and then i'm gonna let my talent speak for itself and that's what and so they were the ones that said okay because obviously now you gotta understand now you sitting there you sitting next to jay now you know what jay is at that point in time in the game. You know he's considered the Don. He's considered the gold standard.

Right. Without a doubt. That's without a doubt. That's without a doubt. And when we sat down and we had a conversation, he most definitely seen my vision too. You know what I'm saying? I seen his. He seen my vision. You know,

that's one of my favorite lyrics. He the one took me to Philippe Chow for the first time. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. And I'll never forget when I got there, I tried them chicken sautés. I loved them. But I wanted that wing stop. I ain't going to lie.

I ain't going to lie. Hey, I mean, it's nice to get that old fancy stuff. They put all that stuff on a nice plate. The plate's nice and clean. The peanut sauce and all that, I mean, it's nice to get that old fancy stuff. They put all that stuff on a nice plate. The plate is nice and clean. The peanut sauce and all that, I understand. But sometimes it's okay to eat out that styrofoam too now. Yeah, you gotta drink out that styrofoam boy. That styrofoam keep that ice cold for hours.

Hey, you said you didn't spend any money when you first signed with Def Jam, why? For one, I wasn't sure if it was going to come back this big. And for two, I knew I didn't want to go back to the bottom. I wanted to make some positive moves. I wanted to get some more money.

I knew I had to get some more money. However, I was going to make that happen. I knew I had to do that. So once I got the bidding war settled, I got a huge advance. I didn't spend nothing. I went to do that. So once I got the bidding war settled, I got a huge advance. I didn't spend nothing. I went and did shows. I was so damn busy that first year.

I was doing four or five performances a week. My off days I was recording. I ain't spend nothing. I ain't spend nothing. You didn't have a chance to spend nothing because you was either, you was in the studio or you was on stage. Yeah, I most definitely was hustling, grinding, because you was either you was either you you was in the studio or you was on stage yeah i most

definitely was was was hustling grinding but you know i ain't want to spend nothing i wanted to see what it stacked like and come back the next year see what it looked like to give myself that many more options of your albums port of miami started it all, Trilla, Deeper Than Rap, Teflon Don, Hood Billionaire, Port, I mean, Rep, what, I'm gonna say, I'm gonna take, I'm gonna take Port of Miami the first one, I'm taking that off the table, because I know that's your baby, I know that, that got, that started it all, so you always gonna be parking towards him, right, of the rest, what would you say is Raw's work? To me, Deeper Than Rap spoke volumes. And the reason it spoke volumes is because I was trying to explain to my fans and people who really love me that I was a different situation from a lot of other artists I've seen.

It is Deeper Than Rap. When I tell y'all I'm really hust other artists I seen. It is deeper than rap. When I tell y'all I'm really hustling, I'm going to show you. And don't take my word for it now. Wait 10 years from now. Wait 15 years from now. Five years from now. If I'm not the biggest that ever did it, I'm just telling you, the pace I'm on, the things that I'm planning and plotting,

I'm going to be the biggest ever. Rolf, how do you pick a beat? What are you listening for? Well, it's hard to explain what I'm really listening for. But one way I could try to do it is when I listen, I'm listening in colors. Every sound is a different color. And if I let an instrumental come on and I play an instrumental in a room

for let's say four or five hours, I want the room to be filled with these colors. So when I walk into the room, it's like if you walk in and smoke and you know how it go by you, I want it to surround me and I want to be able to see the chords, the sounds.

And to me, it just make the words come that much easier to me because when I can see the colors, it's touching my mind in a different way. So now my heart got to match. It ain't nothing that I'm trying to come up with some words.

No, my heart got to feel that in. So let's turn it up. Let's go. So where do you like to write? Where is the ideal place for Ross to write a song? Well, it's depending on which house I'm in. I'm in Miami right now. So where I'm sitting right now is where I love to get up 6 a.m.,

cut an instrumental on, and start my smoking process, maybe sip a little champagne, and start talking my shit that I want to talk. And, you know, it usually don't take too long, but I've been unwrote a song or two. By the time I have my turkey drizzle in the morning, by 8 in the morning, I've been unh a song or two. By the time I have my turkey drizzle in the morning, by eight in the morning, I've been on had two songs written,

you know, straight up. So you just sit around. I mean, so how, so you got stuff all ready to go, all ready packaged, ready to go. Right now. Yeah. I'm putting the final touches on my new album,

richer than I ever been. Right. Right. I'm going to get ready and drop that get ready uh it's maybe no later than march i'm putting the final touches on it as we speak where where is where is the craziest place you've recorded a song where were you when you wrote you said you hustling you was driving up to a a trina concert when you recorded the first line. Where are some of the craziest places you wrote a lyric? Man, I done came with ideas for records in the middle of having sex. You know what I'm saying? I done been looking at myself, looking at a pose like,

damn, this is all right right here. And I come up with something right then and say boy you got to remember that you know and and really I love to draw ideas from everything that I'm around it could be something that I'm listening to it could be something because to me that's the best things to make music and speak about what's going on that's the only reason the album ain't finished. There's so many different things that done happened in the last few weeks that I gotta address in my music. I gotta address what's going on in the capital, what's going on in DC. I gotta say something

about that and when they, you know, when they hear it, you know, people know how Rosé get down. I was reading somewhere, I don't know if it's true or not. You can correct me. You can confirm or deny that you got enough music with Drake and Nas that you can do a project. It may be possible because those are two artists

that we both discussed doing a project together. Me, Nas, we've had that discussion. Me and Drake had that discussion as well as me and John Legend had that same discussion. And it's a great possibility me and John may do that first.

But, you know, me and Nas have collaborated multiple times. And, you know, I may have spoke to him about a recent collaboration within the last month or two. How does Ross decide who he's gonna collab with? How do you determine who you're gonna get on the jump on the track with or who's gonna jump on the track with you?

Well, first and foremost, it depends on the production and the sound. You know, it's not personally what I want, but what does this record need to to you know touch the streets the service purpose to the streets and to the rosé listeners um what's gonna really touch them in a special way and that's what I start with first and then my personal opinion may come into play as to who gonna do that the best but it's ultimately about the record and what we doing on the record and who gonna bring you know this this energy to the record that is that's needed

uh i've had snoop on the show i've had ice cube on the show and they say when they jump on a feature even though they're not this not their album they actually trying to show the dude up. They like, okay, you had me on here. When you jump on a feature, you trying to give him that work? Oh, he already know he going to get it from Rose. It ain't even a fact if I'm trying to. He already know he going to get it. How you take over the man? How you take over the track?

How you going to dominate the man's track? And I'm going to tell you how. Nine times out of 10, when they reach out to Rosé, it's because the sound telling them to reach out to Rosé. And if the sound is something that's a Rosé vibe, it's no way you going to get around me not shining on that. I'm going to shine. And that's my job. you know what i'm saying

and i'm gonna enjoy it who is who haven't you worked with that you would like to work with uh the number one artist that i would like to work with is shawday i want to see her in concert so bad oh man i want to see her because i would love i want to see her in concert so bad oh man i want to see her in concert i would love i want to see her in concert i want to see in concert bad i want to see in the studio i just want to see her kick her shoes off and for some reason i just think she records sitting down indian style yeah i may be wrong but i just see that in my mind and that's what i want to see i would have never i would have never guessed that now i, I love Sade, I love Jill Scott, I love NDR Reid, Michelle and Deggie Ocello. See, Ross, I love rap, but now as

my rightful age, almost 53, I just want to go sit down to the concert, maybe take a cooler, some sandwiches, you know, have some water and I want to sit back and I want to, you know, I want to be just, I want to go there. I'm with you. I'm with you right there. I'm with you. I'm going to have a little bit of a stick of that cookie right there. And I'm with you. I'm going to sit back.

I'm going to relax and I'm going to enjoy that concert the same way, big homie. What's the key to longevity in this game? Consistency. Consistency. it's easy uh it's a lot of artists that have came and went since i came in the game since my day 06 right it's a lot of artists that came and had three four hit records back to back to back and now they gone but i think uh what's important is ultimately the consistency and that's what affects your body of work.

You may have a hit record, you may be cool with a homie who hot, who could give you a hit record. Or you might be all right with a homie that'll give you a verse or sing one for you that you love. But consistency is when they get a certain level of heat on every record and that in turn turns out to be every album so now we want every album that he released you know what i mean and right here i am going on my 11th album and the thing is ross yeah you can have guys with features and you guys have guys that sang a hook, but at some point in time, you have to stand alone.

It can't be all features. It can't be all the laughs. You got to carry your own weight. That's where the consistency come in at. You know, we all love to hear Drake sing that hook. We all love to hear Jay-Z spit that 16. But you most definitely got to carry that package yourself. Kanye, but you most definitely got to carry that package yourself.

You, Weezy, Drake, Young Money. How did that come about? Ultimately, realistically, DJ Khaled played a major role in that whole, you know, team coming together. Because Cash Money was in Miami. You know, they was recording over at Hit Factory. You know, we was in Miami. Of course, we was doing our own thing. But Khaled was, you know, cool with Stunner, Weezy, the whole team.

He'll go over there, vibe with them the next day, come back, vice versa. And he began taking, you know, my record over there, bring a Weezy, the whole team, he'll go over there, vibe with them the next day, come back, vice versa. And he began taking my record over there, bring the Weezy record back, vice versa. And once me, Drake, Wayne, all of us started working with each other, it was just one of those things where if you send something, it's done same day. And it's been the same since. Ross, I don't know how much you've talked about this, but while celebrating your 37th birthday, you were a target of a drive-by.

Right. At the time, what's going through your mind? And you're like, man, I tried to leave this. I thought I had left that BS behind. Here I am doing good. I'm Rick Ross. I'm a boss. And y'all brought this back to me

um you know it was one of those things where you just uh um something you got to deal with you know I don't want to talk too reckless you know Rose can get reckless yeah yeah no don't get reckless yeah yeah I can get reckless but it was one of those things that i said okay you know i see what it is you know what i mean because uh as an entrepreneur you know i'm moving right and and and that's that's that next level of envy jealousy you know right and and i get it i understand and that's why some dudes they get to a certain amount of money and they want to tap breaks that's when they move dudes they get to a certain amount of money and they want to tap breaks that's when they move to Hawaii and they stop getting money and I get it I understand but man I gotta keep going I'm gonna keep going it's gonna inspire me this finna push

me even harder whoever I pissed off you really done fucked up now you really done messed up after that day what changed in rick ross life um it was just the way i move you know what i mean i had a young lady in the car with me at the time um i'm sure that changed her life she never never even spoke about that. I salute her for that. She a queen. But it's not just yourself, but it's everybody that's around you that you love who be in these situations. And so that's what you got to take in consideration

and you got to adjust the way you move. And most definitely, I did that. Ross, I'm going to read a few lyrics and you tell me what goes through your mind and why did you write this? You said, I'm happy that Donald Trump became president because we have to destroy it to elevate it. Right.

And I said that basically just based on the people who believe somebody with the lack of experience could take over the modern world. And if you really believe this and if you're going to stand on this, well, let's do it then. So when he tear this shit down, you motherfuckers could have a new optimistic way of looking at things. Now you see the value of Obama. Now you see what goddamn Obama eight years and how, wow, this could have happened with, but it didn't. Right. Right. Now y'all can appreciate greatness. I mean, some, a part of me, I'm conflicted

because Ross, I look at it and I said, I'm glad because what he did is that what he showed what black people have been feeling the anxiety that they're talking about their experience and now we're telling you the exact anxiety we've been for 400 years we've been experiencing this for for hundreds of years i spoke on donald trump another time on an album called black dollar and he had my album pulled from Walmart. Pulled off the shelves. I said, wow. Homie got time to do this?

They say a lot about dude. And here we are. You spoke about the gang violence. You said, let's fight our own war. Chicago's been out of hand. The city lost soul holding guns on the ground. What can we do? What can we do about this?

What is it about? I don't get it. You're fighting over something that you don't own. You talk about this is my turf. You don't own one speck of grain of sand on that turf. You don't own one block, one grain of sand on that turf you don't own one block or one one cement block one nothing on that block you don't own that why are you fighting over something someone else on we fighting over something we don't know you know majority of these gang members

don't even know where the gangs was created from they don't even know who created these they don't even know what the colors represent they They don't know what the streets, what country they really originated in. But it's just something that's on my heart, on my mind. And I put it in the rhymes and, you know, hopefully somebody writing to it and it'll cross stairs and say, damn. You know, it's the real language.

Nominated, never won a Grammy, but I understand they'll never understand me what is it about what is it about the grammy the people that nominate the people that vote what is it that they don't get because there have been times that you guys and in kanye's album the the year that Taylor Swift won, and I don't have anything against Taylor Swift, but I think sometimes because it's rap, man, can we really give a rap song album of the year?

Can we really give it soul of the year? Oh, that's most definitely without a doubt. That's the same way they voted Trump in. It's the same. It's that same Oval Office. They sitting there right there. Should we give rick ross and kanye west this grammy because that's because that's forever because we're gonna look back we

say in the year 2015 album of the year or song of the year rick ross and kanye oh man and a lot of times for a lot of people they'd rather go without that they'd rather live you know just fuck up something and just go without doing what's right let's talk about sports you're a big sports fan right um you love it all you love basketball you love football you love your you love your miami you love your heat right uh they went to the nba final last year but you know braun had to go ahead and put that thing had to put thing, had to put that away. You know, like, uh-uh. You ain't about to get no title on my ball.

You know, Bron still get that Miami Heat love from Rose. He came and brought the rings down there to us. I'm loyal, baby. I'm loyal. You love the Dolphins. The Dolphins have been bad for a while. It seems to be on the uptake. Are you happy what you're seeing with the Dolphins? You're happy what you're seeing with the Heat? I you happy what you're seeing with the Dolphins? You happy what you're seeing with the Heat?

I'm happy what I'm seeing with the Dolphins. I'm happy with Coach Flores. I'm happy with our starting quarterback, Tua. I'm happy with my new Dolphins suite I just got last week for the next three seasons. You know what I'm saying? So you going to the bowl? No, the bowl's in Tampa.

So you all in the bowl? So you... No, the bowl's in Tampa. So you all in. You all in. Oh, man. Gate City Athletics. Rose, Gate City Athletics. We all in. We going to be there just holding down the city, representing the city.

Hold on, hold on. You spent half your time in the A. So I know you got a suite in Mercedes-Benz, though. You know what? We might have to do that next, big homie. That's a great idea. That's what I'm talking about. You got to get one.

That's what I'm talking about, Sha Sha. That's what I'm talking about, baby. We might have to do that next. Who do you like this year? Who do you like winning the championship this year? You saw the big blockbuster trade. James Harden goes to the Nets, paired with Kyrie, Kevin Durant. Man.

You like the Lakers. You like the Clippers. You like the Nets. You like Boston. You like Philly. Who are you liking to take it all in 2021? I'm going to go back with the Heat. I'm going to go back with the Heat. I'm going to go back with the heat.

Why I can't say the heat? You can say Boston? No, no, no, no. Boston, you think Tatum going to put that on his back? Hey, that young incoming. That young incoming. That's why I said his name. Boss said his name because he earned that.

He earned that strike. That's why I said his name. But he going to have to do it by himself so look my man look the miami heat we solid we solid i don't know ross y'all might have that might have been y'all golden opportunity but you know y'all the king i mean look they can't you know what that's what they said about us last season so that's fine i'm glad you? That's what they said about us last season. So that's fine. I'm glad you feel that way because they said most definitely if we made it to the first wave or down playoffs, we'll be all right.

But guess where we ended up at, baby? But, you know, there ain't going to be no bubble now. You know, team, the guys have been shooting a little different out of the bubble as opposed to in the bubble. I'm sure they shooting a little different. They getting to go home and see their girlfriends at night and goddamn do what they supposed to do. I'm sure they shooting a little different.

They should shoot a little different. But like I say, you know, I'm a root for my big homies. The Lakers most definitely. We got some good things going on. But what you think about that James Harden? Man, I mean, I'm disappointed in James because Ross, the way I believe, I believe you should always maintain

a level of professionalism, especially when you're in a professional environment. For him to allow himself to come out of shape, for him not to hustle, for him not to play hard. And he basically forced a hand. After last night, after what he said after the game, the way he's been playing the last week and a half of the season, they didn't really have a choice.

That's the only problem. I understand. Sometimes, you know, you wear your welcome out there. They get tired of you. You get tired of them. But just maintain a level of professionalism. I'm with that. I agree with that.

And I respect that most definitely. Because two weeks ago, they had me trending. When he walked out on the basketball court, they said he looked like Rick Ross. They had me trending for 48 hours. I say this damn Twitter something else, man. Well, did you see him last night warming up? I called him James Hardee.

Yeah, he had a bacon. He had like four or five Baker's Swiss cheddar burgers. No, man, that could have been the big bufus from Checkers. He had something. But hopefully he's happy now. You know, Kyrie, hopefully Kyrie get his situation resolved. But I'm looking at them. They got a lot of offense.

They don't have any defense. They gave up Jared Allen. They gave up their best bench player in Karis LeVert, Terrell, your Prince wing. They got a lot of offense, but I'm trying to figure out how do they play together without stepping on each other? Because two of the three need the ball in order to be successful. Kyrie needs the ball. James Harden needs the ball. Now I've seen Kevin Durant play without the ball a lot in Golden State win championships, but can those other two guys play without the ball. Now, I've seen Kevin Durant play without the ball a lot in Golden State win championships, but can those other two guys play without the ball? And

you know, they say, Ross, well, you remember what he did when he was an OKC, but that James Harden OKC, it was totally different. This is a different animal now. There's a difference between a pup and a full grown lion. That's true. That's true.

Man. But y'all got to deal with that. KD got to get the ball, though. KD got to get the ball. You got to get KD the ball. I'd rather have KD have the ball goddamn than anybody else. Because here's the thing. James Harden, for the last decade, has been the man.

Kyrie Irving left LeBron James because he wanted to be the man. KD has been the man since he walked into the league. Now, you can't have three men. Somebody, hey, somebody got to be the CEO. I think

Kyrie may be the one that come up short. Kyrie may be the one come up short. I don't know if that's going to go well. Because James Harden, KD, KD and Harden, I'm going to put my money on them, man. You're going to put your money on KD and Harden? Yeah.

I ask this of everybody that come on the show. So I want to hear from you. Give me your top five basketball players of all time. And I want to know who the GOAT is. The GOAT is Michael Jordan. See, there you go. See, I don't even know why we don't even go any further. You know who the GOAT is.

The GOAT is still playing. He in L.A. Hold on, hold on, hold on. Hold on. LeBron James. Yeah! GOAT James is what they call him. LeBron James came to my city, Miami, and turnt my city up.

Without a doubt. You know Shaq did it with D-Wave, Wink Tripper. Yeah. LeBron most definitely came and turnt my city up. But when we say the GOAT now, we talking about that's abbreviation for greatest of all time. Yeah, that's what it is. That's acroman yeah yeah okay i'm just making sure we're on the same page and that's what michael jordan is

you know what you know what wrong you know what i don't even fight you but you know what time it is okay of course of course i know what lebron is lebron gonna come number two okay well so i pull out fill out fill out the rest, the other top five. Who you got? You got Jordan one. You got Bron two. I got Jordan one. I got Bron two.

And number three, I'm going to go with Barkley. What? Yeah, that's my, I like certain kind of players. I love OGs. I love that's what I love. That's what I love about Jordan so much. Jordan was hard. He looked like he was a goddamn

college student, but Jordan really was hard. Okay, so you got Barkley in the three spot. So I can't wait to see the last two. You might have a Manute Bowe in the four spot. So I can't wait to see the last two. You might have a Manute Bowe in the four spot. Nah, because I won't say Manute Bowe. He was soft.

I say Shaq. Okay. Shaq in the four spot. If you want to talk about centers, I say Shaq. Okay. Right? Uh-oh. Number five, you ain't got but one more spot left. So that means Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, KD, somebody getting left off.

And I think Oscar Robinson, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell. So I want to know who – You know, I ain't going to go to Bill Russell now. When I started saying Bill – I was a youngster when Bill Russell – I let y'all handle all the stats. I'm talking about the youngsters that we used to see do their thing. But I'm going to – So that means Kobe Bryant.

No, that's what I was going to say. That's who it got to be, Kobe. I'm going to take Kobe over Larry Bird. What about Magic? Magic, you know, most definitely was an OG, but I was a shorty. My mama was screaming at the TV when they was watching Magic. Okay. We know you love it.

We know you love the dolphins, but who the goat football player? The goat. It's easy. Dan Marino. Oh, Lord have mercy, Ross. So you shot, shot. You couldn't even catch one of Dan Marino. 15 yard pass.

Come on. Shot, shot. You know, you don't hear about receivers wanting to trade just from practicing with Marino. I played a couple of promos with Danny. He can definitely throw the football. So you're going to take it. You're taking him over.

Montana, Brady, Manning, Breeze, Elway. Dan Marino? Yeah. I triggered Dan? The one who created the big foot with the Nike shoe? The one who only ran 408 yards total for 20 seasons? Yeah, Dan made the hot dog. You know how he had to have an arm?

Rose could have ran for more yards than Dan. And guess what? Dan had that shit on his back for all them years. That's Dan. That's Dan that had the mullet. Yeah. Selling, selling Isotonas in Florida. How you sell gloves in Florida?

I don't know. I don't even know. I don't even know the answer to that one. I don't. That man sold Isotonas in Florida. I don't even know the answer to that one. I don't even know. That man sold Isatotas in Florida. I don't even know how that would go. I ain't going to do that. But what made you start your own music label, Maybach Music?

That was really from the desire, admiring what Eazy-E did with Ruthless, whatE did with Roofless, what Luke did with Luke Records, being a shot caller, knowing how much I love making records and putting myself in a position where I could be able to make music whenever I wanted to. And whenever I seen an artist I believed in, yo, okay, what's your name? That's Meek Mill. I believe in you, Meek Mill. Come over here.

Let's do this. Wale, I believe in you, homie. Let's do this. Gunplay, let's your name? That's Meek Mill. I believe in you, Meek Mill. Come over here. Let's do this. Wale, I believe in you, homie. Let's do this. Gunplay, let's do this. You know, and that's what it's about. When I come to Atlanta, you know, I still got my place in Atlanta. I'm in Buckhead. Let your boy hit that.

Let me get that bell out. Let your boy hold that bell out for a day. Man, you let me know which ones you want, what colors you want, because, you know, we got over a dozen of them old school classics. Yeah, I know. Whenever you coming, I got you. I got you. I got to get your Super Bowl team.

Who you like going to the Super Bowl? Who you got winning? I'm going with Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tom Brady. I'm going with Tom Brady, my dog, A.B. I love seeing Gronk out there. I love that. That's what I'm a Florida boy. I can't help it.

I got you. Ross, I appreciate the love today, bro. I really appreciate you hopping on with a couple of minutes. I love you, bro. Man, anytime, anytime. I'm wishing you much love. All my anytime, anytime. I'm with you. Appreciate it. Much love. All my life, been grinding all my life.

Sacrifice, hustle, pay the price. Want a slice, got the roll of dice. That's why all my life, I be grinding all my life. All my life, been grinding all my life. Sacrifice, hustle, pay the price. Want a slice, got the roll of dice. That's why all my life, I be grinding all my life. Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal.

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