Rick Ross underwhelms with Billionaire
William Leonard Roberts II, better known as Rick Ross, is a man of many locations: The Mississippi-born rapper grew to prominence in Carol City, Florida, took on a stage name borrowed from a Los Angeles-based drug kingpin and is now a worldwide rap phenomenon. Hood Billionaire, in stores now, is his second album released in 2014. It follows the tepidly received Mastermind, which hit shelves in March.
As a rapper, Ross was never quite the snippy little wordsmith he fashions himself to be — the round mound of grunting sounds has essentially buoyed his career by pairing the exhumed corpse of a plus-sized mobster shtick with an ear for impossibly catchy production.
In all honesty, Mastermind’s most memorable moment was a hook from Big Sean, and its most quotable line was Kanye West mispronouncing the word “handkerchief” — which should tell you everything you need to know about that album. In contrast, Hood Billionaire is new production territory for the rapper, but that doesn’t necessitate that it’s a fresh-sounding or altogether enjoyable effort.
The album begins with the title track, where Lex Luger’s piano loop woozily careens and swerves over a crushing bass line while Ricky Rozay blesses his audience with lyrical gems such as “Rules of the game / Jack of all trades, icy on the court at the basketball games.” Again, listeners shouldn’t go into a Rick Ross album expecting to be enlightened about domestic policy issues or the necessity of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, but these are pretty elementary lyrics, even by Ross’s low standards.
Aside from talk of planes, trains and his various automobiles, Ross’s ear for production seems to have failed him this time around: the aforementioned title track lacks the breakneck trap-like energy of producer Lex Luger’s previous efforts. Speaking of trap, it gets worse: “Trap Luv (feat. Yo Gotti)” sees Ross erring into down-tempo, soulful production territory as he compares himself to Lionel Richie and raps about his recent weight loss. The contemplative beat that’s pretty mediocre on its own legs is hampered by mind-numbingly bad verses from both Ross and guest rapper Yo Gotti, who manages to espouse his conspiracy theory about iPhone 6 tracking capabilities while maintaining a rhyme scheme fit for a grade school poetry slam.
Of Ross’s collaborators, Jay Z’s guest spot on “Movin’ Bass” is perhaps the most welcome. Mr. Beyonce Knowles offers up a hook worthy of a throwback back to his Life and Times of Shawn Carter days, sounding far too zealous as he throws in the hook “Coppas tried to knock us off, but we still movin’ bass,” extending the “s” on that “bass” with a kind of unsettling zest that makes you wonder if he misses the days when crack was in his palm and he was watching the long arm of the law.
The album’s highlights are few and far in between, but a little scratching and digging reveals tracks like “Coke Like the ‘80s,” puts the typical Rick Ross formula to the stress test. The track combines massive, trunk-bumping bass, hand claps, a menacing piano line and a catchy, simplistic hook (hint: look at the track title) that’ll have listeners longing for the days of red leather jackets and Rick James concerts. Ross ups the energy, his vocal register and presumably his heart rate on the single “Elvis Presley Blvd.” where the rapper informs us that he’s “riding down Elvis Presley Boulevard” no less than 15 times. Despite the braindead lyrics, collaborator Project Pat sounds in fine form, his languid flow navigating the syrupy, horned-out beat with a veteran’s familiarity.
Even for a genre mired in tacky stereotypes and tasteless tropes, Rick Ross’ Hood Billionaire is an ultimately forgettable plate of retreaded material that fails to produce a single that could generate any hype. Instead, releasing two albums in one year announces to the world that making the type of music Rick Ross is putting out isn’t anything particularly labor intensive on the part of the rapper — and the lack of effort shows up in the worst way on Hood Billionaire.