Rapper Rick Ross | Christopher Polk/BET/Getty Images for BET
After the pandemic kneecapped the live music industry, many artists struggled to connect with their fans without the luxury of concerts. For Miami-bred rap star Rick Ross, he took it as an opportunity to turn his focus inward, spending his time in quarantine gardening and famously mowing his own lawn.
Now, Ross is back in the rap game with Richer Than I Ever Been, his eleventh studio album and first since 2019’s Port of Miami 2. The album is entirely a product of the pandemic, but music wasn’t the only thing Ross worked on in the last year: he continued expanding his business empire, which includes several WingStop locations and a Checkers franchise.
“I really got to spend a lot of time with myself, reflect and learn,” he told GQ ahead of the album’s release. “I got to write another book, a New York Times best seller [Perfect Day to Boss Up]. But it was dope because I got to just talk about the strategies of my approaches when it comes to entrepreneurship. So of course I was making records, but I got to do a lot of different other things.”
Richer Than I Ever Been, then, is a braggadocious record where Ross celebrates being at the most financially successful in his two-decade career thus far. He recruited well-known faces like Future, Jazmine Sullivan, and Wale for the project, which takes both Ross and the featured guests into new sonic territory on each track.
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“I got 20 business partnerships now. My last album, I ain’t have 10,” he remarks. “The ultimate position I’m in is now I have the music, let’s reflect where my mind is at, and put it in words now. And to me, it’s not difficult other than getting the details. And now that we’ve done that, I’m fixing to get ready and feed the streets. Richer Than I’ve Ever Been.”
