I can't front, I've never been a big Rick Ross fan...til recently that is. When dude first dropped a couple of years back with "Hustlin" I thought it was dope but I had no idea I was looking at a dude who 5 years later would be one of the biggest MC's in the game. When "Deeper Than Rap" dropped I thought dude was aiight...but I still wasn't a fan. But with my dude Clarence calling and always asking me "yo...you heard that new Rozay"?" every time we spoke, after a while I started warming up to money...but I STILL wasn't a fan. But I remembered the exact moment when all of that changed...and it changed with Kanye's "Devil In A New Dress." By the time the tracklisting for Ye's "My Dark Twisted Fantasy" reared it's head above water I had already listened to that song a thousand time a day. (it was my favorite beat/song from 2011) so when I saw Ross' name added to it I was like this dude is gonna ruin this song. And looking back at that statement I don't know when's the last time I've been so wrong about something hip hop related cause Ross ANNIHILATED that song! And now...FINALLY...I was rocking with dude. By the time "Teflon Don" dropped I was not only rocking with Ross but I also realized that money may actually be the dopest MC when it comes to picking beats. Trust if Nas could pick beats the way Ross can, Nas would 9 times outta 10 have a MUCH doper discography then he currently does. And even though I hate those "Golden Coral" style albums (4 boom bap beats, 4 down south beats, 3 beats for the club, etc.) Ross is probably the best in the game at making those album. So, going from thinking dude is just aiight to now being a fan and actually anticipating his newest album "God Forgives I Don't" is uncharted waters for me but if Rozay's track record holds true to form, I should be good, right?
The Kenoe produced "Pirates" sets "GFID" off lovely while "Shameless" gives you that soulful Rick Ross sound while Ross spits "cut the noose off my neck, black run away slave/In the coupe with the tech, its's the home of the brave/they wanna kniow names, the totting those thangs/never wanted the fame, just wanted a range/I needed some change, mama needed a raise/she stayed in a rage, hated minimum wage/I'm feeling the same, all these criminals paid/wearing ballys and gold, I'm selling dope shameless to say." "Sixteen" featuring Andre 3000 has Ross and 3000 spitting about how can they squeeze their whole life into a 16 bar verse and literally has 3000 BLACKING out. The Cardiak produced "Amsterdam" is dope and keeps that soulful Rozay party I love going but then we come to a screeching halt and we get into the hip hop special ed (not the rapper but special education) part of the party where lyrics and chouses get dumbed down to the lowest level that they can possibly go and MC's rhyme over beats that are the EXACT same with "Hold Me Back" which leads directly into "911" which I swear is damn near the exact same beat! But as much as I hate this "special ed" hip hop I guess I can sleep good at night knowing that at least 50-75 strippers nightly will be able to keep their weaves done, get their ass injections on time and keep their rent paid for at least another 6 months dancing to this kinda music.
"So Sophisticated" produced by The Beat Bully brings the party back to my side of things featuring Philly's finest Meek Millz which is a straight banger and the J.U.S.T.I.C.E League produced "Ten Jesus Piece" featuring Stalley brings us back to the soulful Rozay and has Stalley spittin "Versace shirt, Jesus laying on the chest, man I swear Big did it best/I mean Nas did it fresh, and Jay did it fresh/I mean, Ye did it fresh/but man Big did it the best. Now it's time to discuss the most dreaded part of the party for me (well the 2nd most dreaded part...the special ed part comes in at #1) which is the R&B features. If ya'll read my Nas"Life is Good" review then you already know I believe hip hop + R&B = failure. So needless to say I'm not looking forward to the 5 R&B features on tap. "Mayback Music IV" featuring Ne Yo (who seems to be the only dude who can pull off these hip hop/R&B collabos right), "Presidential" featuring Elijah Woods produced by Pharell and Diced Pineapples" featuring Wale and Drake (which has Wale on his Darius Lovehall "f-ck your man, I ain't worried about him" jawn) all actually come off dope while "Touchin You" featuring Usher and "Ice Cold" featuring Omarion both keep my hip hop/R&B equation working. On a side note did Rozay lose a poker game to Marques Houston and the bet was to give Omarion a deal? I mean, why would ANYONE sign Omarion...for ANY reason?!?!?!?! I'm a man of my word but if I lose THAT bet I'm gonna have to renege! I can't be associated with THAT dude and I'm sure Meek, Wale & Stalley feel the EXACT same way! And the worst part about "Ice Cold" is that the song itself is dope but Omarion singlehandedly ruins the song in the first 10 seconds just by saying his name. But the best song on the album is EASILY the Jake One produced banger "3 Kings" featuring Dr. Dre and Jay Z. (BTW, BIG shout out to Rozay for rocking with "underground" producers and not just the A-listers) And the craziest part to me is Dre actually comes off the best! (S/O to whoever wrote his verse) Ross comes off too but Jay just sounds uninspired like he's just treading water here which is messed up cause over THIS kinda beat would've been Jay's perfect chance to show us "backpackers" he's still got it but maybe the problem is...he don't still got it.
"God Forgives I Don't" mos def has some serious bangers on it but then it also has some of the those "Golden Coral" goodies that I don't mess with on it too. But I'm realizing, that's just Rick Ross' M.O. and I'm FAR from a fortune teller but I think I can go out on a limb and say this will continue to be his M.O. for the life span of his career. Which at the end of the day is cool with me cause with the amount of B.S. that drops nowadays if I can walk away from a 14 track album with 7-9 serious bangers...I'm good with that. Now, don't get it twisted that formula isn't gonna get you anywehere close to a 5 mic classic from me but who REALLY expects Ross to drop a classic album? So "God Forgives I Don't" is basically right on par with what I expected from Ross. Money isn't gonna stray too far from his path of success. And his path of success might have made him one of the biggest rap stars in the world but it's not dope enough for "God Forgives I Don't" to get more then a 3.5 from me.
3.5 outta 5
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