Rick Ross

William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper and record executive. An influential figure in modern hip hop music, Rick Ross has become known for his "booming" vocal performance, "larger than life" persona, and vivid lyrical imagery. His lyrics form the hardships of street life and black market economic activity into a rags to riches narrative, often describing affluence, wealth, and luxury.

Prior to releasing his debut single, "Hustlin'" in March 2006, Ross was the subject of a bidding war—receiving offers from Diddy's Bad Boy Entertainment and Irv Gotti's Murder Inc.—and ultimately signed a multimillion-dollar deal with Jay-Z on Def Jam Recordings. In August of that year, his debut studio album, ''Port of Miami'' (2006) peaked atop the ''Billboard'' 200 chart upon release, along with his second and third studio albums, ''Trilla'' (2008) and ''Deeper Than Rap'' (2009). His fourth album, ''Teflon Don'' (2010) spawned the single "Aston Martin Music" (featuring Drake and Chrisette Michele)—which received triple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)—while his fifth and sixth albums, ''God Forgives, I Don't'' (2012) and ''Mastermind'' (2014) peaked the ''Billboard'' 200 twice more.

Outside of his solo career, Ross was a lead member of the hip hop group Triple C's, alongside fellow Florida rappers Gunplay and Torch in 2005. Ross founded the record label Maybach Music Group (MMG) in 2008, through which he has signed artists including Meek Mill, Wale, French Montana, and Omarion, among others. MMG entered a joint venture with Def Jam and later Epic Records to release his subsequent studio albums: ''Hood Billionaire'' (2014), ''Black Market'' (2015), ''Rather You Than Me'' (2017), ''Port of Miami 2'' (2019), and ''Richer Than I Ever Been'' (2021). After which, it entered a joint venture with Gamma to release his collaborative album, ''Too Good to Be True'' (2023) with Meek Mill. Ross is the recipient of nine Grammy Award nominations, and has been named "Man of the Year" by hip hop magazine ''The Source'' in 2010 and 2011, as well as "Hottest MC in the Game" by MTV in the latter year. Provided by Wikipedia