April 18th, 2009 
James Shotwell Artist: Rick Ross
Album: Deeper Than Rap
Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap
Label: Maybach Music Group/Poe Boy/Def Jam
Tracks:
Mafia Music
Maybach Music II (featuring T-Pain, Kanye West, & Lil’ Wayne)
Magniificent (featuring John Legend)
Yacht Club (featuring Magazeen)
Usual Suspects (featuring NaS & Kevin Cossom)
All I Really Want (featuring The-Dream)
Rich Off Cocaine (featuring Avery Storm)
Lay back (featuring Robine Thicke)
Murda Mami (featuring Foxy Brown & Magazeen)
Gunplay (featuring Gunplay of Triple C’s
Bossy Lady (featuring Ne-Yo)
Face (featuring Trina)
Valley of Death
In Cold Blood (featuring Bang ‘Em Smurf)
Cigar Music (bonus track) (featuring Chris Echols)
If you have been keeping up with the latest rap beefs—I know you all are—then you would know that 50 Cent just swung the lowest blow a man could sway toward another man. In attempt to ruin Rick Ross’ album sales, Fiddy hired the mother of Ross’ child, Tina, to star in a homemade porno that featured commentary from no other than Pimpin’ Curly—50 Cent’s alternate personality.
If it wasn’t enough for 50 Cent to narrate sexual suggestive slurs toward Rick Ross and his old lady, before that 50 put the world on blast with a slew of mixtape tracks talking about how Rick Ross used to be a correctional officer. To the rap world the law cannot be trusted…so how can Rick Ross? Did 50’s two attempts at throwing a chink in Ross’ armor work? That is to be determined, but one thing I do know is that none of these altercations have affected the way Ross gets down on a record.
Rick Ross, back with his third solo album entitled Deeper Than Rap, goes fifteen tracks deep with a gigantic roster of featured artists and an all-star lineup of super producers that have been heavy in the game for the last five years. Some of the hottest rappers and R&B singers in the game got down on this album including the following: T-Pain, Lil’ Wayne, Kanye West, Ne-Yo, The-Dream, NaS, John Legend, Foxy Brown, Trina, Robin Thicke and Avery Storm. The production line up looks like this: Drumma Boy, Kanye West, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, The Runners and DJ Toomp. Those two rosters alone are enough to go pick up this album!
Rick Ross, notorious for his 1970’s style raps about cocaine and drug trafficking, brings the same vibes with his third solo effort as he did with his past two. Many of his tracks on this drop blow you away after the first listen. The track, “Yacht Club,” puts you in the shoes of the biggest drug traffickers that live the lavish life in the glistening sun on a Yacht with beautiful women. This song could have easily been the alternate ending to the movie Scarface…where Tony Montana doesn’t break the commandments of the drug game and lives it up the way he was supposed to.
Another instant classic from this album easily has to be, “Maybach Music II.” You CAN’T find an imperfection with the formula used for this track. It features three of the hottest artists on the radio today, Kanye West, T-Pain and Lil’ Wayne, while they all spit and croon over the beat provided by J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League. The original, “Maybach Music” song was a classic and featured the greatest rapper of all time, Jay-Z, and was easily a boss anthem. Surprisingly enough, the second installment of the song lived up to what it was supposed to be and did not disappoint.
This album has very few flaws on it and is a well polished product. The biggest downfall of the whole album is that there are fifteen tracks and only two of them are solo records by Rick Ross. It shows laziness and lack of creativity because he had to rely on countless R&B singers to perform his hooks and make the songs catchy and radio ready. The entire project sounds like a well engineered mixtape with all the featured artists, but you have to respect the amount of trust Rick Ross shared with his colleagues. All the rhymers and crooners came through with diligence and the album was a success.
In the end, I can’t argue with the fact that this album has much replay value. You’ll have this album on repeat until the next Rick Ross project gets released within the next year. This album is everything. You can throw it on and feel like you are living the American Dream or you can skim through the tracks and feel like a lady’s man with all the smooth cuts that feature artists like The-Dream and Ne-Yo. If you want to feel like a boss, pick up this record and bang it out the trunk—you know I am right now.
Written By: Brandon Folsom
Rating: 8.5/10
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Nice post. Thanks for sharing….