Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I feel like I can make records where, you know, I can get in the alley and exchange bars with Styles P, but I can also get in the studio and create a classic with Rihanna.
'Rather You Than Me' just speaks for my natural instinct to survive, but it's also me being a writer, me being a poet - there's also a beautiful side to 'Rather You Than Me.'
Blast my record out the windows of your Honda Accord. And if anyone gives you grief, you look them right in the eye and tell them Rick Ross told you wealth begins in the heart.
I ain't makin' music for the media. I make music for the people in the streets - that want a street level of entertainment. I'm makin' music because I have the streets to feed.
When families observe a later, deeper stage of cult involvement they may find it necessary to consider the involvement of a professional such as myself in an intervention effort.
My father watched all the 'Star Trek' and 'Star Wars' that you could imagine, along with the martial arts. So I was into all that as a youngster, and I always rooted for the bad guy.
Five years before 'Port of Miami,' I was to a point where I may have even felt like quitting... the style and the wordplay of my lyricism was more complex than what Miami was used to.
When you listen to records like 'Foreclosure,' that's like me sitting in a room by myself just rapping about things that's running across my mind and things that have been bothering me.
I've got a record titled 'Idols Become Rivals,' and it's basically me writing a letter to someone in the game that I looked up to damn near the most, and I hate what things have come to.
I do see a lot of young artists who write records or sacrifice records, because there are a lot of older artists who are preoccupied; they don't have as much time as they used to to be in the studio.
I've been fortunate enough to experience financial success on a large scale through both my music career and my many business ventures. With this type of financial success comes financial responsibility.
I'm a big chicken guy, and Wingstop chicken wings are my number one go-to, so I just got involved with the company. I purchased a few franchises myself. I like to consider myself a global brand ambassador.
I'd never trade my old girl for all the money in the world. I'd never trade my daughter Toya for all the money in the world. I'd never trade my only boy for all the money in the world. I put my last name first!
When I used to sit in the office with Jay Z and L.A. Reid... we would negotiate back and forth and discuss music. You're sitting in front of someone for hours. It's all about being passionate. Everything begins with yourself.
You know how in football, guys throw defenses, and the defense throws you a look, but the look is not really what it is - it's only made to fool you. It's the same thing with drugs. The drug is only an illusion to draw you in.
I created MMG years ago. My desire was to create a space where the most talented artists in the world could be nurtured and supported. With that came a commitment. I vowed to support these artists through the good and the bad.
When you face obstacles or go through different phases, I always relied on my music. I depend on my music, my teammates. So at the end of the day, having incredible music, for me, would keep me in the space I want to be as an artist.
I didn't understand that you could go to jail for the rest of your life for selling cocaine. I thought life sentences were for murderers. I didn't know that you could get it for supplying something to someone that they asked you for.
The best method for preventing destructive cult involvement is preventative education. If students and the public at large are more aware of destructive groups beforehand they may better understand and resist their recruitment efforts.
A boss is all about good business, so start with everything that you can control and you can turn up that costs you nothing, then lay all the knobs out, look at all the controls, all the remotes, and just turn them all up. It don't cost you nothing.
I remember when I couldn't afford to eat like this. It was ramen noodles and the San Francisco Treat [Rice-A-Roni]. Dessert? Get you a honey bun and put a slice of cheese on it. Put it in the microwave for 45 seconds and you had the gift of a lifetime.
My father wasn't there the majority of the time. My father, someone who I always honored and looked up to, had been in the military; he had been to war. I would hear stories about different experiences he went through, but as I got older, my father moved away.
However, today due to civil litigation funded by cults this option for families has been eliminated. Instead, the only form of cult intervention now practiced is voluntary-with the exception of minor children under the direct supervision of a custodial parent.
If you're a battle rapper on the block, the emcee battle challenger, not writing your rhymes could really hurt you. When you're an artist where maybe the focus is really the talent and the different things you bring to the game, I believe it's more understandable.
Are you the person who just wakes up, puts your T-shirt on and runs out of the house? Or do you wake up an hour early - get your mental notes together, fix you a little coffee... prepare yourself for the day and try to do something really great? It begins with you.
At one time, due to the reluctance of cult groups to allow members to dialogue with their families and professionals about their involvement (or even to allow families access to a loved one) -"involuntary deprogramming" became the choice of some families as a last resort.
Really, every day is the perfect day to boss up. Every day that you wake up is a perfect day to boss up. It's all about continuing to put one foot in front of the next. That's what it's about. Whatever you think you're going through, just put one foot in front of the next.
Through "deprogramming" or cult intervention the only issues that are addressed focus upon the specific group and group involvement. The subject of such an intervention subsequently may leave the group and go on with their life reassuming their own basic individual values and beliefs.
What makes 'Maybach Music V' so special was, of course, I put the album out celebrating my daughter's birthday as well, and DeJ Loaf is her favorite artist. So 'Maybach Music V,' I wanted a real airy type of feel. Just a real slow vibe to it that's also going to surprise my daughter. So that's real special.
When I was coming up in Miami, the music in the city at the time sounded completely different. I loved it, but it just wasn't the type of music I wanted to make. I wanted my wordplay to be more sophisticated. I wanted the sound to be more lush. I wanted my music to sound like who I was and aspired to be - boss.
Everybody who know Rick Ross know that, for one, I love creating music, and one of the biggest impacts we have on the game was the fact that when we came into the game, artists was waiting two to three years to put out albums. I was one of the few that put out an album every year along with two or three mixtapes.
If I had been literate, I wouldn't have sold drugs. I just wanted a job. I would have worked at McDonald's. And I would have put the same effort into the fries and mopping the floor that I would have put into drugs. I'm the kind of person that always wants to do a job the best I can. I don't believe in half-doing jobs.
If you had a magic wand today, and you had one wish - to wipe out all the drug dealers, take them all off the streets and put them in jail, no trial, everybody who sold drugs would automatically be convicted. You know what's going to happen? There's going to be new ones. Why? Because the drug users are going to create them.
In high school, I played football and became an all-American offensive lineman, but my father hadn't been to any of my games. In those instances, you still hold your head up high. But, when you look up into the stands and you see everyone else's parents cheering and supporting, you have to just stay focused and push through.
It's absolutely fun to walk around and have people respect you. When Michael Jackson did Thriller, I was in the park one day, and a girl came up to me and said, "Man, the only people they talk about around here are Michael Jackson and you." It was pretty flattering to be considered in the same light as the king of pop in my area.
When you're drug kingpin - you're a mayor. You are a governor. But of a different society. You get to do what you want to do, just like any mayor. You can park your car anywhere. You get the best women. You go to the restaurants and eat free. It was like being a rock star. Like being Magic Johnson or Michael Jordan. It was just pure freedom, everything I was looking for. I desperately wanted freedom.
I played a major role in the spread of crack cocaine, the marketing of crack cocaine, the glamorization of crack cocaine. But it's hard to say that it was totally my fault. My judge in Cincinnati told me, "Mr. Ross, I know that the prosecutor and the media and the DEA all want to blame you for this problem, but I sentenced my first drug dealer the year you were born, so I know you're not the cause. This is a problem we've had since before you were born."
Drug users made me. They taught me. I didn't know how to work a scale; I didn't know what a gram was. Drug users taught me the business. They're going to teach it to the next guy, because they want a good drug dealer, one they can trust, one that's not going to rob them, one that's not going to cheat them out of their money, one that's not going to sell them fake dope. That was me. They're going to find another one because they're going to be looking for that guy every single day until they find him.