Album Review: Rick Ross-Deeper Than Rap

April 22, 9:28 AMNY Hip-Hop Music ExaminerSamantha Greaves

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Album cover for Deeper Than Rap in stores now.

After months of numerous album push-backs, Rick Ross' Deeper Than Rap finally saw the light of day yesterday (04.21) as promised. It's been no secret; Rick has been getting a lot of bad promotion with the on-going 50 Cent beef and personal attacks from the rapper, yet through it all, Rick remained confident about the success that he believed the album would see.

Turns out, Rick was confident for a reason. Deeper Than Rap will shock a few people who are expecting redundant material from the Miami native who is known to babble on tracks about his supposed criminal history; in fact, the album is full of songs that may just go on to be hits.

Rick on this album, goes ahead and let's his hair down starting with the very first track which is "Mafia Music"; the song that started it all. Flaunting his gangster rhetoric line by line all the while calling out mysterious individuals (with the exception of 50 Cent which he makes vocal), he goes into details about those who have double crossed him in the past. He takes a more mellow route when it comes to the songs "Magnificent", "All I Really Want" and "Lay Back"; enlisting the help of R&B crooners John Legend, The Dream, and Robin Thicke respectively.

He even takes a trip down memory lane with ex-girlfriend (or supposed ex-fiance) Foxy Brown with "Murda Mami"; a lot of her fans will get a taste of what the Fox is planning on bringing when she drops her comeback album. Prepare to cringe when the "Boss" goes into detail about his "pushing" with the song "Rich Off Cocaine", (the title basically speaks for itself) where the rapper breaks down how he developed his very own form of "business"; as if most of us have been living under a rock to know the simple truth.

And right when listeners think that the song "Valley Of Death" is just another diss track aimed at arch Hip Hop enemy 50 Cent, Rick takes the liberty of finally admitting to his past employment and even breaks down just why he decided to seek employment as a C.O. (and then some). He raps,

I'm bigger than a title, bigger than a name/ You can label me the biggest label in the game. Put food on the table, fed the whole city...Call your boy a C.O./But if I really was, wouldn't all these n*****s undercover be f*****g n*****s up/Keep it trilla, n***a never had a gun and badge/Kept a nice watch, smokin' on a hundred sack...And I got two kids, and for me to feed 'em I did two gigs/I shoveled s**t/I C.O.'ed, so we could bow our head and pray over the meatloaf/I'm lookin' at the big picture/Keep a b***h with cha/Tryin' to get a bit richer.

Deeper Than Rap gives Rick's old and new fans a glimpse into his world and the versatility he has as a rapper. Though his lyrical oration could have been improved on a bit more, Rick shows that he has potential to stomp with the best if he continues to remain strapped with confidence and just a bit of honesty.

Deeper Than Rap gets 3.5/5.