It’s interesting how famous people develop into stars. Sometimes is happens quickly. Then others grind for a while before that big break comes. That grind made me think of a few rappers who worked hard for success in the music industry. Definitely this weeks’ featured artist Rick Ross is one of those hard-working performers who found success. I don’t think anyone heard about a rapper named Rick Ross before the mid 2000s. However, the work started long before he finally came to local and then worldwide prominence.
One point of interest when discussing Rick Ross, is his choice of stage name. In fact, I am always a little curious as to why a musical group or individual artist chooses a particular name. How did William Leonard Roberts ll become Rick Ross? It’s always good to start at the beginning of any story.
William Leonard Roberts II was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, and raised in Carol City, Florida. (Carol City is a neighborhood in Miami Gardens, Florida, United States. The population was 61,233 at the 2010 census) After graduating from Miami Carol City Senior High School, he attended the historically black college Albany State University on a football scholarship. In July 2008, The Smoking Gun produced details linking Ross’ social security number to an 18-month stint as a correctional officer at the South Florida Reception Center, along with a photograph first publicized by Media Take Out purporting to be Ross in his correctional officer uniform. Ross initially denied that the photograph was of him, but after overwhelming evidence of his past came into the public’s eye, Ross later admitted that he did work as a correctional officer in Florida for 18 months between 1995 and 1997.
In his early years at Suave House Records, Roberts initially made his debut under the pseudonym Teflon Da Don. He made his recording debut on the song “Ain’t Shhh to Discuss” on Erick Sermon’s lone album for DreamWorks, Def Squad Presents Erick Onasis. In the mid-2000s, he changed his name to Rick Ross. He derived his stage name from the former drug kingpin “Freeway” Rick Ross, to whom he has no connection. Ricky Donnell “Freeway Rick” Ross took offense to Roberts using his name. Nevertheless, Roberts would gain much notoriety using the name Rick Ross.
That brings me to the subject of stage names. There usually is a good reason the group or person chooses a particular name. It becomes more than a name, and somehow defines the artist. In the case of the name Rick Ross, Roberts found that it was more than just a name, but a person who still exists today. Ricky Donnell “Freeway Rick” Ross is an American author and convicted drug trafficker best known for the drug empire he established in Los Angeles, California, in the early to mid 1980s. An interesting choice of a name. Moreover, Freeway Ricky Ross would also provide a persona. A living and breathing life lived behind the name. This would work well for Roberts.
According to an October 2013 Esquire magazine article, “Between 1982 and 1989, federal prosecutors estimated, Ross bought and resold several metric tons of cocaine,” with Ross’s gross revenue claimed to be more than $900 million (equivalent to $2.7 billion in 2018) and profits of almost $300 million ($900 million in 2018). During the height of his drug dealing, Ross was said to have sold “$3 million in one day.” Freeway Ricky Ross was a major hustler who provided an identity for Roberts to completely adopt, and breathe more life into by way of music.
After being signed to Suave House Records, former label for rap duo 8Ball & MJG, he eventually signed a deal with Slip-n-Slide Records, which has been under the Def Jam label since 2006. While signed to Slip-n-Slide, Roberts toured with fellow rapper Trick Daddy, and made guest performances on other Slip-n-Slide albums.
His debut album Port of Miami was released in August 2006 and debuted at the top spot on the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart, with sales at 187,000 units during the first week. Christian Hoard of Rolling Stone magazine predicted that it would be “the summer’s biggest rap record”. The second single was “Push It”, which samples “Scarface (Push It to the Limit)”, the theme song from the gangster film Scarface. The music video for “Push It” was modeled after the film. During that time, Ross made guest performances on two singles from DJ Khaled’s debut Listennn… the Album: “Born-N-Raised” and “Holla at Me”. Port of Miami received Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America on November 8, 2006.
Rick Ross was carrying more than a name. He was now delivering music that branded him a big-time hustler. Originally titled Career Criminal, the album was renamed, in reference to Miami being a major arrival destination for cocaine shipments to America. Brendan Frederick of XXL said, “While the runaway success of “Hustlin’” could have positioned Ross for one-hit-wonder status, he confidently sidesteps this fate by delivering the goods on Port of Miami. With a cohesive sound the city can call its own, the bearded rapper gets the release he needs by exposing the dark side of the Sunshine State.”
Ross would continue on the path of several before him, delivering hit music that established the city of Miami, Florida as a hotbed of hip hop talent.
Rick Ross has delivered a lot of music from that start in 2006 down until today. In fact, earlier this year he delivered studio album number 10, Port of Miami 2. Complete with a lot of guest appearances from a long list of superstars of today, Rick Ross has become an icon of the hustler who has made it to the top – and stayed right there.
Today he has even provided motivation for hustlers worldwide. “I can spot a millionaire—from the guy working at the carwash,” Rick Ross said to a sold-out crowd at New York City’s Gramercy Theatre on his “Port of Miami 2 Tour.” “He got the rag hanging out of his pocket, to the way he rock his [pants]. I see the millionaire in him,” Ross continued.
As the Port of Miami 2 Tour continues, you can count on Rick Ross to continue the persona that made him who he is today. A successful entrepreneur and international superstar.