Rick Ross

William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper and record executive.

An influential figure in modern hip hop music, Rick Ross has become known for his "booming" vocal performance, "larger than life" persona, and vivid lyrical imagery.

His lyrics form the hardships of street life and black market economic activity into a rags to riches narrative, often describing affluence, wealth, and luxury.

Roberts worked as a correctional officer for 18 months from December 1995, until his resignation in June 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.

Outside of his solo career, Ross was a lead member of the hip hop group Triple C's, alongside fellow Florida rappers Gunplay and Torch in 2005.

Prior to releasing his debut single, "Hustlin'" in March 2006, Ross was the subject of a bidding war—receiving offers from Diddy's Bad Boy Entertainment and Irv Gotti's Murder Inc.—ultimately signing a multimillion-dollar deal with Jay-Z on Def Jam Recordings.

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.

In August of that year, he released his debut studio album Port of Miami, which debuted at the top spot on the Billboard 200 chart, likewise with his second and third studio albums, Trilla (2008) and Deeper Than Rap (2009).

In March 2008, his second album Trilla was released and, as its predecessor Port of Miami had, debuted at the top of the Billboard 200.

Its lead single "Speedin'" featuring R. Kelly peaked at number 21 on the U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles; the next one, "The Boss" featuring T-Pain peaked at number 17 on the Hot 100.

The third single "Here I Am" featured Nelly and Avery Storm.

MTV News ranked Ross on the fourth spot in its 2008 "Hottest MCs in the Game" list among ten rappers.

The fourth single "This Is The Life" featured Trey Songz and was released in July.

"I look at the game and the business and all different aspects, it's a lot of great lyricists on the corner that will never properly understand the business and know how to market themselves and get in a position where they can gain capital. I look at all the strategies people use and what made them successful. What made Birdman just as relevant today after selling 50 million records? That intrigues me. To see the class of Jay-Z, his accomplishments and see how he sits backs and accurately makes his moves."

A track from the album called "Valley of Death" was what stood out to MTV reporters.

In the song, Ross speaks briefly on his controversial stint as a prison guard.

"Keep it trilla, nigga, never had a gun and badge," which he stresses, leaving the word that he was indeed an officer of the law.

"Kept a nice watch, smoking on a hundred sack/ Back in the day I sold crack for some nice kicks/ Skippin' school, I saw my friend stabbed with an ice pick/ Can't criticize niggas trying to get jobs/ Better get smart, young brother, live yours."

Later, he implies that while he was working as a corrections officer, he was on the streets.

"Only lived once and I got two kids/ And for me to feed them, I'll get two gigs," he raps.

"I'll shovel shit, I'll C.O./ So we can bow our heads and pray over the meatloaf."

He still provided no explanation for lying about being a C.O. to begin with, nor did he explain why he failed to pay child support for his children.

Ross founded the record label Maybach Music Group (MMG) in 2009, and went on to sign artists including Meek Mill, Wale, French Montana, and Omarion, among others.

His fourth album, Teflon Don (2010) spawned the single "Aston Martin Music" (featuring Drake and Chrisette Michele)—which became certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)—while his fifth and sixth albums, God Forgives, I Don't (2012) and Mastermind (2014) peaked the Billboard 200 twice more.

Ross has been nominated for a total of nine Grammy Awards, and has been named "Man of the Year" for two consecutive years by hip hop magazine The Source in 2010 and 2011, as well as "Hottest MC in the Game" by MTV in 2011.

William Leonard Roberts II was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, and raised in Carol City, Florida.

After graduating from Miami Carol City Senior High School, he attended the historically black college Albany State University on a football scholarship.

Maybach Music Group would also enter a joint-venture deal with Def Jam and later Epic Records to release his subsequent studio albums: Hood Billionaire (2014), Black Market (2015), Rather You Than Me (2017), Port of Miami 2 (2019), and Richer Than I Ever Been (2021).

In November 2023, he released a collaborative album with Meek Mill, Too Good to Be True.