Rick Ross原名William Roberts,1976年1月28日出生。在迈阿密北郊贫困的小城Carol City长大。由于受到鲁瑟·坎贝尔(Luther Campbell)和“臭名昭著大先生”(the Notorious B.I.G)等老牌说唱歌手的影响,William Roberts在上世纪90年代中期组建了说唱组合the Carol City Cartel,开始自己创作歌曲。同时,他还把自己的艺名改为Rick Ross。(注:Rick Ross是上世纪八,九十年代美国洛杉矶最大的毒枭之一。)
在加入Slip-N-Side Records之前,Rick Ross曾在孟菲斯说唱组合Eightball & MJG的前厂牌Suave House Records短暂停留。从2000年初开始,Rick Ross开始和同属Slip-N-Side Records的Trick Daddy一起巡演并在Slip-N-Side Records出版的多张专辑中客串演唱。这使得Rick Ross开始在当地小有名气。直到2006年,Rick Ross才发行了他的首支个人单曲《Hustlin'》。在《Hustlin'》正式发行之后,一场签约大战拉开了序幕,包括Bad Boy公司CEO Sean &Diddy& Combs和The Inc. 公司(原名Murder Inc.)总裁Irv Gotti都抢着要和Rick Ross签约。但是最终,Def Jam老总Jay-Z以一张数百万美元的合约将Rick Ross招致麾下。
在加入以DJ Khaled’s而出名的“we taking over”后,Ross 仍然表现出他一贯的安静。Rick Ross的乐迷可以听到Ross一如既往地随意唱腔,就像一个大学二年级学生在熟悉的学术领域发挥的如鱼得水。Rise to Power这支4拍单曲将在Suave House专辑中发行。同时,敬请关注Ross的最新RRick Ross - BMF (Blowin Money Fast) (Remix) &B风格的单曲。
Tattooed with pictures of AK-47s, Miami's six-foot, 300-pound rap figure known as Rick Ross embraced his city's reputation for drug trafficking on his debut single, &Hustlin',& in 2006. While Atlanta and Houston artists were establishing their cities as Southern strongholds, Ross aimed at putting Miami back in rap's national spotlight. Ross, real name William Roberts, grew up in Carol City, FL, an impoverished northern suburb of Miami. Influenced by artists like Luther Campbell and the Notorious B.I.G., Roberts formed local rap group the Carol City Cartel and began rapping in the mid-'90s. (He took his rap name from Los Angeles drug kingpin &Freeway& Rick Ross, who ran one of the largest crack-cocaine distribution networks in the country during the '80s and early '90s.) Ross had a brief stint on Suave House Records, former label of Eightball & MJG, before he ended up on Miami-based Slip-N-Side Records, the label home of Trick Daddy and Trina. During the early to mid-2000s, he became popular and well known locally through touring with Trick Daddy and guest-appearing on a few Slip-N-Slide releases, but didn't release any solo material until 2006. Once &Hustlin'& caught the ear of a few executives within the national industry, a bidding war ensued that included offers from Bad Boy CEO Sean &Diddy& Combs and The Inc. (formerly Murder Inc.) president Irv Gotti. Nonetheless, Def Jam president and veteran rapper Jay-Z signed Ross to a multi-million-dollar deal. The Miami anthem &Hustlin'& went on to receive gold status from RIAA in May 2006 and sold over a million ringtone units before the physical release of his debut album, Port of Miami. Released in August 2006, Ross' debut was Slip-N-Side's first project under the Def Jam partnership, and it went to number one on the Billboard album chart. His follow-up, Trilla, was released the following year, prefaced with the Cool & Dre-produced title track.