BLOW
Rick Ross serves up more yayo on his loaded sophomore album

By David Diehl

Rick Ross does everything large.

He wears large clothes. Large shades. Large shoes. He smokes large amounts of kush. Eats large meals. He travels in large vehicles; SUVs, yachts and fan boats. His watch is rather large and shiny. The rest of his jewelry is as well. His head is large and wrapped in large facial hair. He rhymes about how large he is, literally, and also how large his influence is in the current hip-hop world. He is, as you know, the King of Miami. The Boss. His first album, Port of Miami, saw large success. He expects his second Def Jam LP, Trilla, to be even bigger.

The past few months have been particularly noteworthy for Ross. He hit the news on both Thanksgiving and Christmas of last year for his philanthropy, and especially for his healthy, fast food chain in Miami, the Hip-Hop Grub Spot. On Thanksgiving, he gave away turkeys to the needy in Miami, and he also organized a toy and food drive. One of Ross's personal philosophies is to keep it humble, and when asked about his Turkey Day good deeds, he just responds with how relaxing it was for him, and not about all the good he brought to his community.

"Oh man, my Thanksgiving was lovely. I stayed in bed all day. That was the first time in five years that I didn't leave the house. Major kush and turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, collard greens, a little fish here and there. More kush," he revels. "And then when I get the munchies, I need a bowl of Fruit Loops. Smoke another one, then it's more dressing and turkey and cranberry sauce. Then I got a massage for about two hours. Then more kush. My Thanksgiving was blessed."

As for the Grub Spot, which Ross calls his "baby 40-40" (as in Jay-Z's couture club venture), he took a former Miami drug spot and turned it into a positive community center. The Spot offers jobs to young people as well as creative outlets.

"You can come in, get your burgers, fish sandwiches, all that kind of shit, shakes, fries, [and] there's eight plasmas in there with video games set up for the kids," he boasts. "It's just a spot that I really wanted to make for kids, especially young kids that want to get into the music business. I want to start showing them how you can become an entrepreneur and do your little thing independent, remain independent. There are a lot of little kids on iTunes spending 99 cents for this and that, when you could go to school and press some singles and sell them for 99 cents. I got a little corner for them to put their little CDs up. I teach them how to spend ten dollars to press out records. Invest in they selves."

With his soft side exposed, it's not surprising that Ross is a big fan of Valentine's Day. This year, February 14 marks the release of his sophomore album, Trilla, and his self-produced documentary, M.I.Yayo, a film depicting Miami's ten biggest dealers.

"That's what me and my homies always been known as, the City of Dope. The Cocaine Capitol," Ross explains. "I call it the M.I. Yayo, and it is what it is. I just paint pictures of what I see. Other side of the bridge is a mother fucker, believe that. They can't get no realer."

Where Port of Miami found Ross just rapping over beats, on Trilla he was able to collaborate with some major figures. "For the records that I put together, after Port of Miami, I just took everything that I experienced on the road and learned, and I applied it to this album," Ross says as he takes another pull off his blunt. "And the records that we came up with reach every aspect of bigger and better. The theme for these records was just to be the best. And then me and Jay-Z collaborated and it was just one of those special moments in hip-hop. I mean that's Jay and Ricky Ross, and people are going to appreciate the way I stepped up to the plate. It was just some real nigga shit."

For the complete story get ISSUE 82 "THE FASHION ISSUE"