If he’s really a “mastermind”, than surely he’s rhyming about stuff besides cash & drugs, right?
Fighter: Rick Ross
Trainer (Gym): DJ Khaled, Diddy (Maybach Music Group, Slip-n-Slide, Def Jam)
Cut Men: J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, Timbaland, DJ Mustard, Boi-1da, Kanye West, Mike WILL Made It, Vinylz, Scott Storch, The Weeknd, Bink!, Ben Billions, Beats, D-Rich, J. Manifest, Black Metaphor, Jerome “J-Roc” Harmon, Messy, Major Seven, Reefa, K.E. on the Track, Mike Dean
Weight Class: Rap Superstar, Luxury Rapper
Notable Fire: Nobody (Feat. French Montana), Sanctified (Feat. Kanye West & Big Sean), Drug Dealers Dream, War Ready (Feat. Young Jeezy)
Notable Trash: Blk & Wht, Supreme, In Vein (Feat. The Weeknd)
Tale of the Tape: It might not seem like it, but it’s been eight years since William Roberts dropped “Hustlin” and announced himself as a legitimate rap force to be reckoned with. Now on his sixth LP, Rick Ross appears to be seeping deeper and deeper into the bubble in which so many veteran MCs find themselves. You’ve already climbed your way to the top of the industry, and by now the people have heard everything you have to say and could easily be growing fatigued by it. It was around this stage of their careers that 50 Cent, Ludacris, Nelly, Fabolous, Young Jeezy, and even to a lesser extent T.I. and Lil Wayne have struggled remain relevant in the streets, even if they effects haven’t necessarily been felt on the charts.
Eight years is a long time in the rap game. The genre is still young and hip-hop is still a young man’s game. The best of the best are in their late 30s and early 40s, which is uncharted territory for rap. Ross is 38-years-old— it would behoove him to start laying the plans for the next phase of his career, especially if he’s the “mastermind” that he professes himself to be. That is, unless he knocked Mastermind out of the park. Then all bets are off.
Ross decided to stick to what’s got him here to this point on this record. Raps about his dope dealing days, the $92M (allegedly) sitting his checking account (as noted on The Preseason Podcast of the Year) and his favorite lemon pepper wings consume Mastermind, a formula that has admittedly been successful to this stage of his career. Ross is being true to himself — his fake self anyway — and deserves some credit for this. But the lack of evolution in his content and most his rhymes for that matter, prevent this album from being truly memorable.
Like all of Rawse’s previous works, Mastermind was not without its fair share of heat. Despite the ridiculous intro, “Drug Dealers Dream” is actually a very good record, on which he shows a certain level of depth as he attempts to cope with the breadth of the dope game. “Is this a drug dealer’s dream?/Cause all I ever see is niggas dying from disease”. Of course, this is followed by the inevitable rationalization of the act, “Lord knows I’m a sinner/It was cold in the winter/Eating outta the trash, shit will make you a killer”, however that doesn’t negate the hotness of this line, particularly Ross’ delivery.
“Sanctified’ is another example of Ross frequently attempting to weave the concept of religion into this album, another conceptual retread (see: God Forgives, I Don’t). Only here, Kanye West steals the show as he addresses his haters on what was arguably the most memorable (albeit hypocritical) verse on the album. “Niggas be lovin’ the old Ye, they sayin’ the new Ye, that nigga be spazzin/But when Ali turn up & be Ali, you can’t ever change that nigga back to Cassius/So you can gon’ and make up lies, but I’m so sanctified/I don’t sweat it, wipe my forehead with a handkerchief”.
Sidebar: Ross actually dropped Big Sean’s verse from the official version, but has made it know that Big Sean’s verse may appear in the “Sanctified” video.
Having one of his guest features steal the show is nothing new for Ross. Few rappers have ever been outshined on his own albums more than the Dade County MC. Part of this is due to his strong relationships and big-budget projects. Ross has worked with the best of the best (Nas, Andre 3000 and Hov on several occasions, to name a few), and when you step in the studio with the best, you can easily get styled on.
Mastermind was no different than a typical Ross project, except that it included even more features, some even coming from the unlikeliest of places. Jay, Lil Wayne, Scarface, Diddy and the aforementioned Yeezy and Big Sean (and the underrated Z-Ro) all made the album and or the deluxe edition. His own artists, French Montana and Meek Mill, are also on the project, but the appearance of Young Jeezy on the “War Ready” was particularly stunning. For one, it signified the end of a longstanding beef between the two MCs. Beyond that, “War Ready” is seven minutes and is a Mike WILL beat located right smack in the middle of the album. It’s almost as if Ross went out of his way to showcase a once sworn enemy.
Interestingly, Tip actually played the CP3 role in this equation by helping link Jeezy and Ross to begin with, and like so many featured guests that came before him, Jeezy bodied Ross on this track, in what was one of Jeezy’s better lyrical performances in recent memory. Regardless, “War Ready” and “Walkin’ On Air” should satiate the goons.
Ross and Weezy also joined forces once again on the very solid “Thug Cry”, and amazingly, Ross is once again bested by his own feature, as Wayne also managed to pull out his best verse in sometime. It’s almost as if every rapper in the game secretly signed a pact stating they would save their very best work for any Rick Ross record. Over time, it’s become more and more apparent that a Ross record is like All-Star Weekend for most artists. The bright lights come on and millions will be watching (or listening), there’s a built-in stage with the game’s best are in attendance (i.e. the best producers are on deck) and everybody goes out of their way to showcase their talents, with little to no defense (or resistance from Ross himself) whatsoever.
Fight Night: Loser By Split Decision
Far from a wack album, Mastermind for the most part delivers on what one would expect from a Ricky Rozay LP. Overall, the production was solid. The lyrics were par for the course by Ross standards, with one exception being “Nobody”, where Ross channels his inner-Biggie Smalls and pays homage at the same damn time. Though the flow may have been borrowed, The Bawse definitely makes Frank White proud (especially considering Diddy’s contribution to the song). Much like Biggie’s famed paranoia towards the end of his life, Ross seems to be far more conscious of his mortality these days— two attempts on one’s life (as Ross claims) could have this effect on anyone though.
The album does lack a noteworthy club record, with the closest being “Sanctified” and “The Devil Is A Lie”, featuring Jay Z. The latter was the LP’s lead single and was released in December, however it seemed to not even garner the same traction of their last collaboration, “Fukwitmeyouknowigotit” from Jay Z’s Magna Carta album. Look no further than its less-than-stellar stats for confirmation.
Sidebar: To its credit, “The Devil Is A Lie” does go hard in the whip. It also features my favorite bars on the album: “Four stacks for the heels on my bitch feet/Car seats still smellin like 10 keys/Tell the plug that I’m lookin for an increase/Wing Stop, fat boy need a 10 piece!” Makes me laugh every single time. Anytime Ross raps about food, it makes me laugh.
Rick Ross is classified in this review as a “Rap Superstar”, because that’s exactly what he is. With this distinction though comes great expectations. Mastermind is a decent album, but considering his weight-class (no pun intended), the heavy-hitting producers and the A-List group of features (except for the notable absence of Wale), this album doesn’t do enough to differentiate Ross from his competitors or his past work for that matter.
Sidebar: If he replaces the tracks between “War Ready” and “Sanctified” with the songs off the deluxe edition, it would’ve significantly improved the album’s standard edition.
Ross’ best, and largely most unheralded, attribute as an artist is his ear for music. His beat selection and the relationships he’s cultivated with some of the game’s greatest have led to him consistently putting out quality work for these past eight years. But even he must be able to sense when his career is approaching a point of stagnancy. The good news is his MMG crew is set for many more releases in 2014. If he can focus his talents on honing his executive producer skills (he does compare himself to Belichick on this album), it may set up for a nice transition out the game as an MC, if and when the public officially grows tired of his luxury raps.
Until then, we should hope Rick Ross’ next solo project makes the transition from adequate to special, because he’s far from finished. And The Bawse can take solace in knowing Mastermind is another number one album on his résumé. That’s a cause for celebration, right?
WHO’S UP FOR LEMON PEPPER WANGS?!?!