Hip Hop Vibe’s Artist of the Year: Rick Ross

With hip hop struggling, Rick Ross said that he had plans of changing things in 2009. At the time, Rick Ross was probably best-known for his debut single, “Hustlin’.” However, when the year of 2009 came in, Ross was determined to become the top artist in hip hop. Already, Ross was on the biggest hip hop label, all that he had to do was get their attention.

Usually, Def Jam spends all of their marketing dollars on Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Young Jeezy. But, in 2008, Jay-Z left the entire Def Jam label. They wanted to go ahead and release a new album from Kanye West, but he was still deciding what type of album that he was going to create for the upcoming year. When 2009 first rolled around, Young Jeezy was still promoting his The Recession album.

The only artist that was ready to release a new album was Rick Ross. With this album, the Miami rapper was sure that he was going to take over the game. Coming with the territory of being a rap star, a rapper is not notable unless they are involved in a notable feud. Since he was affiliated with DJ Khaled, Rick Ross was affiliated with Fat Joe. When Rick Ross first came into the game, he made cameos in some of Fat Joe’s videos.

It is no longer news that Fat Joe has been involved in a feud with 50 Cent ever since the beginning of 2005. Early in 2008, when Rick Ross was still promoting Trilla, 50 Cent warned Rick Ross about hanging so close with Fat Joe. He said that Rick Ross may end up being dissed by him if he does not create some distance. 50 made only a few digs about Rick Ross that were ignored for the better part of 2008.

However, as New Year came in, Rick Ross released “Mafia Music,” a song which calls 50 Cent out by name. Dating back to the summer of 2008, 50 Cent wanted to get into a high-profile feud, but the artist that he wanted was Lil Wayne. However, he ended up getting a very cocky Rick Ross instead.

What came next was the most-notable feud of 2009. Perhaps realizing that he was going to lose the lyrical battle with Rick Ross, 50 Cent took things to a new level. Using his hip hop social networking website, ThisIs50.com, 50 Cent began releasing a series of disses that were aimed at Rick Ross. Because of the fact that he did not have the money of 50 Cent or the media, there was nothing that he could do to stop this.

For the rest of the year, Rick Ross and 50 Cent have engaged in an ongoing battle that appears as if it will never end. When his album came out, it was clear that Ross was more than one of those gimmick rappers. He held his own against 50 Cent, winning the lyrical battle. For the most part, he maintained a very close battle with 50 when it came to the antics, even when 50 Cent was taking pictures of his baby’s mother, Tia Kemp.

Even as recent as November, when 50 Cent’s album flopped, it looked as if Rick Ross had won the overall battle. But, 50 Cent pulled off a power move when he invited Rick Ross’ baby mother and his son to Floyd Mayweather’s mansion. While at the mansion, 50 Cent took pictures with the son of his rival. It was then that Rick Ross ended up losing the battle with 50 Cent. But, he was the most notable name of 2009.

It was not because of the music and his improvement in lyrical prowess, it was the way that he took over the game. With his previous album, Rick Ross wanted to prove that he was a rap star, but on this album, he wanted to prove that he was the focal point of the game. On such singles as his John Legend-assisted “Magnificent,” he proves just that.