Okay. Um.
I really like Rick Ross, but I can’t take him on his own. A full album is a lot and too much Ross for me. I think he’s great with other rappers though. Lil Wayne’s track “John” which featured fantastic verses and a catchy hook from Ross, is still one of my favorite songs of last year. He was also great on Drake’s “Lord Knows” from Take Care. Basically, Ross is the best when he’s with someone else.
That is why I believe this album is the definition of a mixed bag. A lot of the best tracks are towards the end of the record. I thought the track “3 Kings” would be decent because it featured Dre and Jay-Z but it was incredibly underwhelming. Jay-Z sounded very sleepy. And Dre mentioned his headphones twice. Please buy his headphones. He wants you to. Like I mentioned before, the solo Ross tracks are the slowest part of this album. Even when he is showing off a lot of energy, like in the track “Hold Me Back”. But the end result is just, boring.
The features are the saving grace of this record. Andre 3000 breathes some much needed life into the track “Sixteen”. But that song is 8 MINUTES LONG. Meek Mill murders the track “So Sophisticated”, but I feel like I hear this flow from him all the time. Omarion delivered a pretty catchy hook on his track. But, Usher just makes the track “Touch’n You” even more awkward. I don’t need to hear a Rozay slow jam. Wale does a solid job on “Diced Pineapples” but, Drake could have been utilized a lot better. He’s not just a soft hook guy anymore. And I don’t even know why Ross even bothered spitting a verse after Nas on “Triple Beam Dreams”.
All in all, I like Ross. But I do I like him enough to take a full album from him? No.