So this became the signature ‘Boss’ motto. Trina: “I feel once he did ‘Hustlin,’’ it was every hood anthem. That’s what made his lyrical content so strong.” What took Ross so long to get in the game was that he had lyrical skills and spit bar for bar. ‘Once you get in the door, you can say to them, ‘Don’t play with me boy! I got lyrics, I got bars, I can rap.’’ That’s when he was able to get in. But when you’re coming from down South, we just got to water it down and bring it back. If you’re from up North, they’ll let you in the door on your lyrical content.
Honestly, over the years, we told him to scale it back a bit just to put his foot in the door. “Not too many cats from down South that you could put in a cipher and he’s going to eat it up. When I first signed him, you could put Ross in a rap battle and he could eat someone up. You got to just catch the flow and let it go.’ What made me sign Ross when I signed him was I knew that cats up North were going to respect him and get it, and I knew he could relate to cats down South. Ted Lucas: “ I had to dumb Ross down because he was so lyrical. He was buzzing underground and we know mostly the same people.” Trina: “I heard about Ross in the streets being a local lyricist. So it was hunger and determination to be the best in what he does.”
He’s the type to say, ‘I got to go get that.’ He wanted to be the best. Ted Lucas: “What I seen was hunger, hunger and determination to really become – when he was talking that boss stuff – the best. Listen to Rick Ross’ Deeper Than Rap now. While Ross already had two Gold albums under his belt by the time work began on 2009’s Deeper Than Rap, people like Ted Lucas, the founder of Slip-N-Slide Records, and Miami rap legend Trina, paint a picture of a Boss still learning the ropes.