Before Maybach Music Group became a prominent imprint in Hip Hop, DJ Khaled says that Rick Ross told him about his plans to make a name for his company.
“[Rick Ross] had a vision,” DJ Khaled said during a Miami, Florida listening session for Rick Ross’s upcoming Mastermind album. “I will never forget. He used to tell me he was gonna build an empire called MMG. Now, MMG is one of the biggest empires in the game.”
Ross, who also appeared at the event, said he owed much of his success to God.
“First and foremost, God is great,” Ross said. “I’m in my city. I’m at the crib. I appreciate everybody comin’ out. All the bosses in the building.”
Khaled has spoken about his and Ross’s rise to prominence in music in the past. During a 2013 Life+Times interview, Khaled discussed the moment he knew that he and Ross were breaking ground on success.
“I remember telling Ross, ‘Ayo, Ross. We made it,'” Khaled said, recalling a conversation he had with Rick Ross while filming the video for “We Takin’ Over” in 2007. “That was the day, for me personally, that my life changed…Ever since that, me and Ross been loyal to each other and there’s nothing he won’t do or nothing I won’t do for each other. We don’t say the word ‘no’ to each other. We just do it.”
Ross also held a Mastermind listening session in Los Angeles, California February 21. REVOLT reports that several artists, including Ma$e, Wale and No I.D., attended the event. The publication also reports that Mastermind includes “a tribute to late rap icon, [The] Notorious B.I.G., with ‘Nobody,’ featuring Diddy and French Montana. The song reworks Biggie’s eerie ‘You’re Nobody (Til Somebody Kills You)’ and was presented as a dedication to the memory of Christopher Wallace.”
Video of Ross’s Miami listening session can be found below courtesy of Mikey T The Movie Star.
RELATED: DJ Khaled Recalls Memories With Jay-Z, Kanye West & Rick Ross
Of course Khaled would ride Ross’ dick.
I dont know about the homosexual comment but Khaled is a Co producer on the album so he was in the studio during the recording process.
Ever heard of figurative language? Do you take everything you see or hear literally? Also, Khaled doesn’t even do any producing.
Figurative language are 2 favorite words that g unit groupies use. G units empire has crumbled, reduced to indie. Khaled does ghost produce and gets artists together.
LOL, this idiot just said Khaled doesent do producing. Go check his production credits on BMI/ASCAP, he is listed as a Co-executive producer on Mastermind. You have no clue what a producer does.
I’ve never heard anyone else use the word figurative language on here. Khaled does NOT produce, he has other people do the producing.
He lets others take credit you mean. Also, 50 gonna bomb big.
No, he doesn’t. He lets others do all the work and he takes all the credit. Also, Ross is gonna bomb big.
“he is listed as a Co-executive producer on Mastermind”
that means he sits in the studio eating chicken nodding his head and telling ross they got another classic over and over
How lame is it to name your empire after someone elses brand?
He has never made 1 creative or original move in his life. What would you expect from a guy who tattooed another mans name on his hands?
When William licks the chicken grease off his fingers he sees another man’s name. When William brushes his teeth at night he sees another man’s name. Whem William stuggles to bend over to tie his shoes he sees another man’s name.
How lame is it to criticize a million dollar brand when you dont even have a brand of your own.
How lame is it to defend a brand when you’re not even part of that brand?
William is rich and succeful in life and judging by that picture he looks happy and content which should make many failures and losers feel bad about their own lives.
And none of this has no impact on you. His success means nothing when the music is trash.
“and judging by that picture he looks happy and content ”
judging by that picture he looks overweight and disgusting and should consider investing in something healthier than chicken wings and alcohol.
You call it trash other people call it enjoyable and in the meantime it gets nominated for Grammys and sells hundreds of thousands of copies. Are you mad yet?
Macklemore got nominated for a Grammy and won too, remember
And those people like trash music. One award nomination and sales mean nothing because the music is still garbage.
One more week and Ross drops a classic and you emotional niggas won’t be able to deny that Ross on top of the rap game. 300K minimum first week. from what I’ve heard Ross album gon be another classic joining GFID, Teflon Don and Port of Miami.
Bawse!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HAHA HAHA. Officer ricky groupies make me laugh. Our empire at g units gone but at least we make fun of ricky groupies because they ain’t shit.
He’s going to sell less than J Cole!
Please. Ross hs no classics and doesn’t have the buzz to sell at least 200K 1st week.
Judging the climate and Yo Gotti’s sales there is no way it will do 300k first week, LOL, more like 150k max. I didnt think GFID was classic but you could argue Tedlon Don.
Port of Miami was pretty weak too minus a few of the cuts.
Two biggest fake wannabes in the biz.
DJ Khaled called the album a classic and everyone in the crowd just laughed because they know it’s likely not true and he just has to ride with his fat buddy for his paycheck.
what a pointless video… we didnt even get to hear any of the music apart from that flop jay-z song.
The album is going to be a nice one judging by the snippets.
NOT!!
Khaled does have a knack for hit records, he has a good ear for putting the right pieces together.
Congrats to Ace Hood, Ross and Khaled for Bugatti going platinum.
You mean shit records. Bugatti is a terrible song.
If you throw a hundred darts at the board eventually one will hit the middle. That album was a colossal failure though and 2 months after no one is speaking of it and he’s talking about a new mixtape.
Somebody give 50 a hundred darts because that guy aint had a hit since that song with
Bieber Timberlake or whatever that pop guys name is.
Ross stan caught feelings.
yet all his recent flop singles charted higher than any of Rozays
Another album full of lies and fairy tales. On that Jeezy record he raps that he was charging ni**as 17 at the age of 17, haha yeah right.. If that why the case why would he get a job searching inmates cracks for $10 an hour… anyone who’s really getting it in like that ain’t trying to work or be anywhere near a fucking prison. Not to mention his brief stint studying criminal justice at an HBCU.
Damn homie I didnt know white folks knew what an HBCU was, you must frequently read comment sections.
@Anon-2
Give the little guy some credit, at least he waited a few minutes before he gave us the routine anal comment, he normally does it off jump.
These two Anonymous comments come from the same person.
Just ignore him, he is an Eminem fan so he believes that everything in a rap song is supposed to be reality, thats why he was bragging the other day about Em being a murderer and rapist.
Everyone on this website hating on Ross is a white skinned virgin geek who never leaves the basement and knows nothing about the streets except for me. I’m in touch with what the streets are saying and despite me commenting on here all the time I’m the only one who’s not a nerdy loser with no friends and I go outside and get laid ALL THE TIME.
When Eminem was 17 he was making racist rap songs and now he is the King of Black Culture. Blacks lost.
You’re still stuck on that one song he made when he was a kid after a bad break-up with a black woman, a song that he apologized for and people forgave him. You’re dumb. And I like how Ross stans always bring up Eminem and other rappers when their hero’s credibility is questioned. This is not about Em, this is about Ross. Stay on-topic. Oh, wait. Ross stans can’t do that.
I don’t listen to Em… never have.
That picture LMFAO!! Haters gonna feel sick when they see those smiles!
No one cares about them smiling. They’re still pieces of shit.
i feel sick when i see 2 extremely obese people rubbing their fat bellies together
“Now, MMG is one of the biggest empires in the game.”
Funniest joke ever.
I hate fat people. They all deserve to die.
Hopefully this album is a success and he can make it back on the forbes list. It must be so embarrassing to call yourself the biggest boss but not even make the top 20 and earn as much as Mac Miller did last year.
What a joke. It’s funny how mac miller doesn’t insult his fans and constantly brag about his money and cars when he makes just as much as this cocksucker.
Does Mac Miller even have a label?
he doesnt, thats why its funny he made as much as Ross who has MMG and countless endorsements and investments
Everyone on this website is a white skinned virgin geek who never leaves the basement and knows nothing about the streets except for me. I’m in touch with what the streets are saying and despite me commenting on here all the time I’m the only one who’s not a nerdy loser with no friends and I go outside and get laid ALL THE TIME.
If anyone wants to chat follow me @BruthaDee
You just described yourself for the most part.
Maybe he has low self esteem
I’m deep in these streets unlike you geek unit groupies hating on a real gangsta like Rozay. March 4 he’s gonna drop another classic on your acne covered backs.
WE DON’T BELIEVE YOU
YOU NEED MORE PEOPLE
Like I care what some pale faced freakish rejects think about me.
Funny because I’m not even white.
I’m eating noodles in my 93 Plymouth with my long dirty fingernails if anyone wants to chat. If you go on my IG you can check out a nice picture of took of my crotch for all my fellow MMG fans.
up to I looked at the receipt which had said $8573 , I have faith that my brothers friend was like they say truley bringing in money in their spare time from their computer. . there moms best frend started doing this for only about 10 months and as of now cleared the dept on their cottage and got a great new Maserati . over at this website……….http://x.co/3xKFx
Part of me wants to feel like I’m reaching with that headline, but most of me knows that I’m not. The fact of the situation is that, during an interview with Rick Ross yesterday at the 40/40 Club in Manhattan, I brought up Reebok, which obviously triggered memories of the rapey lyric that cost him an endorsement deal with them. Perhaps for obvious reasons, things got awkward, Ross handlers got antsy, Ross low key tried to insult me, and the interview was stopped halfway through. The thing is, Rick Ross constantly talks about being a boss. To him, its not just a title, but an entire worldview. Real bosses answer the hard questions and keep it moving.
Then again, what do you expect from a guy who let the media hound him over a lyricPut molly all in her champagne, she aint even know it/I took her home and I enjoyed that, she aint even know itthat he couldve easily talked his way out of? Unlike the Date Rape Drug, Rohypnol (or alcohol, the most common date rape drug of them all), MDMA isnt a sedative, and even if you slip it to someone, its not going to make them pass out. Its a stimulant and, if anything, itll make a person more alert. Clearly, Ross doesnt always know what hes talking about in his own lyrics, and he and I never even addressed that line directly.
[Ed: To be fair, Ross did address the controversy in an interview with HuffPost Live, saying, “I don’t really regret nothing. I’m glad I seen and learned some things. When I realized so many women were affected by that, I wanted to make sure I apologized. Where I come from, that’s not even tolerated… I never thought someone would fill in whatever blanks, but I respected it, and I respected everyone’s opinion who reached out, most definitely women… Ain’t nothin’ more impressive than women, baby.]
We got close, though. I was working my way towards a question about the infamous lyric. He and his team were tactful enough to pick up on that, and thats why my interview got shut down. I asked Ross about his chemistry with Jay Z. We talked about how FuckWithMeYouKnowIGotIt was another hit for him. Then I brought up how he rapped Reeboks on, I just do it, nigga on that song in the midst of his controversy with the company. Thats when things got tense. Heres how the conversation played out:
Noisey: I feel like you kind of purposely were fucking with people when its like, Reeboks on, I just do it nigga. Knowing the whole controversy, what were you really getting at with that line? Because thats the shit that really stands out to me. After everybodys making this big fuss and then on one of the hottest club records of the summer, youre kind of taunting people on purpose with that shit.
Rick Ross: See, you the type of nigga that might consider it taunting. I dont even like that word. Dont use that word no more.
What would you call it? Its not a negative word to me. You know, its like
Stay focused, homie. Let me answer your question. Reeboks on, I just do it nigga. Repping Reebok. You like Reebok?
I dont really wear them as much anymore. Like, Ive been a Nike nigga. I wear Vans and shit like that.
Oh yeah, you a Vans nigga.
Yeah, I got on Docs. Like, I know niggaslike you got on Timbs, I got on Docs. Thats just what shit is.
Thats your vibe. I wish you the best. Keep shining. Keep doing your thing. Keep shining, man. I was repping Reebok. I like Reebok. We wear Reebok on our side. We wear soldiers. All white. We pull out them Rees and we wear em all white.
Nah, a nigga had Rees in like middle school, when the Pumps came out, I know what its about.
Yeah, classic. [Handler to Def Jam employee, when Im obviously about to start talking about the controversy and him losing his endorsement: You got the next one?] Much love. Great interview. Wish you much success.
Yeah, man. Same. You dont have time for a couple more questions?
We got a couple niggas waiting, man.
It would’ve been perfectly fine if Ross ended the interview because he wasn’t feeling my vibe. I get it. Writers are fucking corny. Some of the coolest shit Ive ever seen is Lil Wayne shitting on a journalist in his The Carter documentary. But Ross was just blatantly dodging a difficult question. If he and his team just let the conversation play out, they would’ve seen that I wasn’t trying to corner him. Ross has made a lot of great music. By virtue of that alone, I went into that interview simply ready to ask real questions. Of course I was going to ask him about the rape lyric controversy. Maybe it was the format of the interviewessentially a one-journalist-in, one-journalist-out assembly line press junket promoting his upcoming Mastermindbut it felt like Ross was immediately on the defensive when I brought up Reebok, too sensitive to the assumed pressure to realize that the line of questioning came out of a place of respect. Instead, I was hit with bullshit boss posturing.
Earlier in the interview, I brought up the fact that he once famously said, We dont do pushbacks, and now his album has been pushed back several times. It’s a genuine question. Ross responded with some half-baked nonsense about how he changed the date because hes a boss. I shouldnt have been surprised that the guy who, in the face of physical proof, lied about being a former correctional officer, is too delusional to own up to the fact that his upcoming album has no buzz and its singles have barely even registered with the general rap-listening population, and thats why its been pushed back. Now regardless, the album’s coming out, and I understand that he has to maintain a positive stance on it no matter what. But if the albums good, be confident in that and don’t cower away because I’m there addressing reality.
Just like the Internet calling out Ross for being a CO, the UOENO lyric is part of Ross flawed but fascinating legacy, so he might as well be prepared to address it. As soon as I brought up Reebok, he became passive aggressive, standing up, pointing at me, and showing off his shoes, in a display of grand misdirection. Last summer, I rode around LA in a BMW drinking Cristal in the backseat with my boys, rapping that contentious lyric emphatically. In that context, its a fantasy, but as a journalist, I fully expect to have a real conversation about it. But Ross has a history of getting uncomfortable in these types of situations. He attacked DJ Vlad six years ago for asking him about his past as a correctional officer and had to pay him $300,000 in a settlement.
Its not like we didnt talk about Mastermind enough and I just jumped straight to controversy, like some slimey TMZ reporter trying to get a scoop. My first several questions were about the album. We talked about his ear for picking beats. We talked about his mission statement with this project. But none of that shit was interesting. Nobody cares about this album. A Drake interview with Rolling Stone has more buzz than an entire Rick Ross record at this point, and its because Drake is too open, and too honest. Ross is closed and guarded, so lapses in his ostensible personamoments of imperfection that show a real humanbecome the most interesting things hes done. That doesnt have to be a handicap or a negative. People would love to hear his real thoughts on that situation. People would love to hear something truthful about his time as a CO. That shit can only win people over. But Ross is worried about the concept of being a boss. The facade is datedhonesty is captivating, and a superstar rappers inability to be real is why rap journalism is a fucked up game. Journalists aren’t your fucking friends, and they’re not your fucking publicists.
His excuse for ending the interview was that other writers were waiting, but there was no rush when the writers in the room before me were taking selfies with him and asking questions about Valentines Day. Im in there for 15 minutes and we start drifting towards the date rape question and all of a sudden its time to go. The best interviews are an opportunity to connect with your audience in an authentic way. There’s not a single person who doesn’t want to hear more about that “U.O.E.N.O.” lyric. If a rapper who talks about killing people can’t handle someone getting ready to ask a question about the only interesting thing he’s done in the past year, maybe thats a sign that rap journalism is broken. Clearly, theres an increasingly adversarial relationship between rappers and press. Yesterday, Drake said the “press is evil, then Kanye West went on stage later that night and told members of the press to “shut the fuck up.
The sad part about it is, I wasn’t even looking to attack Ross and gain anything from it. I wish we could’ve talked more. I looked that man in the eye the entire time I was talking to him. I was an honest human being and all I was looking for was the same in return. I guess that’s too much to ask.
Meek Mill made a song called “Tupac Back,” when his boss was the nigga who would be checking “Tupacs Crack” before and after his visits at Dannemora/Clinton
Rick Ross makes music for niggas that get out of the shower and dry off with a blanket
Rick Ross makes music for niggas that watch scarface once and act that shit out in their head for the rest of their life
Rick Ross makes music for niggas that got picked last in gym class
Rick Ross makes music for niggas who order a double bacon cheeseburger, french fries, and onion rings, with unlimited sides of coleslaw for lunch with a Diet Coke
Rick Ross makes music for grown niggas that got Scarface posters on their wall
Haha! Awesome bait post, the haters bit kind of quickly!
It’s bait for the dickriders like you as well.
@sammie that picture is pure ether I jetted into the heart of a Hater, just watch I bet they go apeshit and spam like crazy HAHAHAHa!!,
Only in your dreams, stanley.
I am a eater, who’s probably gonna eat again, stomach forgive me, stomach fogive me, for being hungry I can’t comprehend, sometimes I need to eat alone…..bitch don’t steal my fries, bitch don’t steal my fries, I can smell your ass from 2 burger joints away I got my ketchup got my fries I would share but there’s just no way so im yelling bitch don’t steal my fries, bitch don’t steal my fries.
I didn’t know how big MMG was untill I read an article in XX, they have a film division and a Latin division in addition to the DJs, rappers and producers on their main label. Salute to a Dade County Boss.
That ain’t true.
Spiff was A&R for MMG and now he is the president of Maybach Latino they did a press release on the Miami website.
Another tax write-off for Ross.
40 year old groupie nigga comment, no one else cares about that shit.
sounds like a bunch of tax write offs to me. no wonder he only made as much as mac miller last year. he got all these bums that ain’t earning a dollar.
That’s the new label format you have to have sub divisions, shit niche marketing is this age is the best way to keep your brand fresh. People sleeps on L.A. Reid’s business models but you can learn a lot from his moves.
It’s nothing more than a tax write-off that won’t generate any money.
Real shit, they need to get down with the boy Iceberg, I think the real Triple C’s should be Berg Breed and Gun. So many Latinos in Miami its good to have a label for the Hermanos.
They’re not gonna have any careers in that graveyard. They’ll be nothing more than Ross’ weed carriers.
rozay is a decent artist but his whole act is going to catch up with him..he’s talking like he really was the youngest nicca in the medellin and smoked cigars with pablo escobar..
dude goes home washes his tats off, hangs up the beard and watches golden girls..
Last night (February 11), Rick Ross hosted a Mastermind album release party at New World Stages in New York City and AFH was in the building. The event was a star-studded affair, with Ross and Meek Mill there from MMG, as well as DJ Khaled, Fabolous, Busta Rhymes, Mack Wilds, Bow Wow and a host of music industry heavyweights.
After some fits and starts at the door and getting into the theater, DJ Khaled set the tone for the evening by boldly encouraging all media outlets present to quote him as saying Mastermind is a mutha!!in cla##ic. Even despite Khaleds bias as an executive producer, that was a big statement. He then introduced Ross who said a few words and made it clear he was going to let the music speak for itself. He asked for the music to commence, offered a couple of anticipatory uhnns and walked off stage.
And then, it beganThe b0mbast that came from the prodigious sound system was 2nd only to the Jay Z/Kanye West system used to preview Watch the Throne in the sheer brute force of its volume. Unlike that listening session, however, the Ross music was still audible and not overwhelming with its decibels. The intro, which was released this week, features a brief monologue with a man describing the capabilities of a mastermind. The intro, along with each subsequent song, was accompanied by visuals that were directly-related to the audio (in this case the actual visual clip from which the monologue was lifted).
Immediately out of the intro, the album launches into Rich Is Gangsta, a power-track not in the vein of Blowin Money Fast and 911, but of the more soulful variety. The corresponding visuals evoked the power of the song, with images ranging from plentiful bars of gold to Michael Jordan sporting his six championship rings. Like many of Ross themes on Rich Forever, this is one of his street motivation anthems.
What followed from tracks 2 through 11 was the strongest sequencing of songs ever on any Rick Ross album. Period. If he had stopped there and thrown in Sanctified, Thug Cry (The J.U.S.T.I.C.E. Leagues interpretation of Billy Cobhams song Heather, the sample that powered Souls Of Mischiefs 93 til Infinity) and bonus cuts Blessings In Disguise (featuring Scarface) and Paradise Lost, many might be lining up to call this album a cla##icand plenty still may. But, a song or two toward the end (The Weeknd a##isted In Vein sounded more Weeknd than Ross and Walkin on Air with Meek Mill broke no new ground), represented the only POTENTIALLY skippable fare on the album, in our opinionat least on first listen.
Standout tracks from songs 2-11 were aplenty. Shots Fired begins with news reports on the infamous attack on Ross Maybach in Miami and then proceeds to go full tilt at his haters. Nobody, produced by Diddy, revisits Biggies ominous Nobody Till Somebody k#lls You, drawing on that hook and including ad-libs from Diddy that are equally venomous as those he spit on B.I.G.s record. The Devil Is A Lie has already est@blished itself as one of the finest of the many Ross/Jay Z collabos. War Ready, released last week, finds both Ross and Jeezy sharp over a fittingly aggressive beat. What A Shame pays homage to Ol Dirty Bastard. Sanctified, featuring Big Sean and Kanye West (also produced by West), takes the Gospel-Rap fusion prototyped by West and fined tuned by Meek Mill, and deftly expands on that sound. And, BLK & WHT boasts of drug dealer riches but in the end flips the script with Ross (at least on screen in the visuals) encouraging those making their living in the streets to get an education.
In fact, its songs like BLK & WHT, Shots Fired, Nobody and What A Shame that help to elevate Mastermind over previous Ross works. Whereas almost all of his music possesses a cinematic quality and even he, himself, presents a persona that at times is bigger than life, these and other songs on Mastermind break the fourth wall and let us into Ross reality. Its a world where he acknowledges and salutes his musical influences and at times spins cautionary tales about what happens in the streets instead of celebrating it. He even takes moments to poke fun at himself, as he does in the Rich !! Skit where a fictitious woman BAWSE goes to extreme lengths to prove just how baller she is. You think Rick Ross is not keenly aware of how he is perceived? Think again. This is a more circumspect and fleshed out version of Rick Ross.
There is no doubt to us that this is Rick Ross best work yet. Will it be viewed as a cla##ic? Only time will tell
“CB4” is a profoundly confused movie, combining rap music with a satire of the world of rap. Working both sides of the street, it gets caught in traffic. The film stars Chris Rock and Phil Hartman from “Saturday Night Live,” but it doesn’t have SNL’s smarts — and worse, it doesn’t have any sense of what’s funny. On a structural level, it’s incompetently written and directed.
The story involves three friends from the fictional California town of Locash (get it?), who dream of breaking out of their middle-class backgrounds and becoming rap stars. They get thrown out of the local rap club, run by a gangster named Gusto (Charlie Murphy). And then, trying to get back in Gusto’s good graces, they coincidentally turn up at the club at the same time as a swat team.
Gusto is busted as a cocaine dealer, and goes to prison. Then Rock has a brainstorm: He’ll assume Gusto’s identity, his friends (Allen Payne and Deezer D) will also pose as escaped cons, and they’ll name their rap group CB4, after Cell Block 4. Meanwhile, of course, the real Gusto vows revenge from prison. Also meanwhile, a local white politician (Hartman) goes after the anti-rap vote. It’s easy to imagine how this formula might work itself out, but the screenplay is so slapdash that nothing ever works itself out, and the movie doesn’t conclude, it terminates.
Along the way there is a lot of rap music, in bits and pieces (including an annoying low-level music track that plays during amost all conversations). There is also an embarrassing attempt to satirize rap. A rap promoter quizzes the guys: Do they use the word “ho” in their music? Call all women “bitches?” Grab their crotches? Adocate violence? Wave guns around? They do? Excellent! Watching this scene is like seeing an SNL skit that isn’t working.
There are scenes in the film that seem to criticize rap music for its violence, racism and sexism. Yet other scenes seem to celebrate or exploit the same qualities. The images of African-Americans in the movie are especially confused. Many of the women are indeed called “hos” and “bitches,” and the female lead, Khandi Alexander, spends much of the film in a push-up bra, either representing or satirizing negative images of black women. The movie’s attitude seems to be: If you’re smart enough to get the satire, it’s a joke, and if you’re not, here’s a sexy “bitch.”
The movie was directed by Tamra Davis, who has directed music videos for various rap groups. CB4 appears in videos in the course of the movie, but again the film is confused, and doesn’t know wether these videos are the real thing, or parody. The result is a compromise: Cliched examples of the real thing. Meanwhile, the plot limps and crawls toward a conclusion it will never reach.
Some of the blame for a film this bad must be laid at the feet of the producers, Brian Grazer and Nelson George. Grazer is a major producer (“Backdraft,” “Far and Away”) and George is a well-known journalist and screenwriter. They took Chris Rock’s original idea to Universal. But as producers, they didn’t do their jobs. They should never have allowed shooting to begin until a professional screenplay had been written and the vision and tone of the film was clear. This is the kind of movie that tries to shoot itself in the foot, and misses.
Looking for a witty, dead-on parody of the hard-core rap scene? If so, you’ll probably watch CB4 ticking off the missed opportunities. This raucous comedy charts the rise of a furious trio of gangsta rappers, CB4 (it stands for Cell Block 4), who take their name from the prison wing in which they supposedly did time. The joke is that their outlaw image is all a fraud. Led by a sweet-faced kid named Albert Brown (Chris Rock), who starts calling himself M.C. Gusto, CB4 are just middle-class kids from Locash, Calif., (that’s right, Locash are you laughing yet?), who put on prison work shirts and churlish scowls and con the public into thinking they’re hard-shelled thugs.
Early on, we see the group trying out various stage personas at a local rap club a scene seemingly inspired by the one in This Is Spinal Tap that flashed back to the band’s flower-power days. Except that here, the joke isn’t given enough time to settle in. The CB4 crew appear for an instant in back-to-Africa dashikis, then with shower caps on their heads (are you laughing yet?), and then the routine’s over. A little later, they’re rapping in a car along with a Run-D.M.C. tape a scene obviously inspired by the ”Bohemian Rhapsody” sing- along in Wayne’s World. Except that here, nothing crazy-silly is going on; the tape player just starts playing at the wrong speed. Finally, we get the obligatory mock video clip: It’s a rape-and-pillage fantasy called ”Straight Out of Locash,” and it features the rappers strutting along Los Angeles back , alleys, sticking their ferocious mugs in the camera, dissing the cops… but wait a minute, it looks exactly like a real rap video.
It was at this point that I began to realize why nothing in this movie is very funny. CB4 would like to be a savage hip-hop lampoon, but, in fact, the film strikes a cautious balance between satire and homage. It can’t decide whether it wants to ridicule CB4 or hold the group up as role models. What we’re left with is a soggy catalog of rap cliches.
Chris Rock has done some amusing hip-hop parodies on Saturday Night Live, but in CB4 he makes an alarmingly ascetic rap hero. With his high, strangulated voice and pretty-boy-scarecrow physique, Rock lacks authority on the big screen, and so the movie has no center. We can certainly believe in Albert as a middle-class poseur. What CB4 never begins to satirize is the character he’s posing as: the nihilistic rap hustler whose ”criminal” image is inseparable from his desire to make a killing in the record industry. You get the feeling that gangsta rap’s show-biz intimidation tactics did a job on the filmmakers, too.
“CB4” (citywide), a musical comedy about three gangsta rappahs from Locash, Calif., is part satire, part celebration. That’s what causes most of its problems.
The movie has bounce and bite, but it skitters around too much. Its needle is hip-hopping around between too many grooves. Co-writer/co-producer/star Chris Rock of “Saturday Night Live” plays the lead role of Albert Brown: a shy, almost fragile-looking middle-class Locash youth who turns himself into the oily-wigged, crotch-grabbing, jailhouse jive rapper, MC Gusto. And though Rock’s satiric aim is occasionally deadly, on other occasions his show seems to be turning into a showcase for a lot of major rap songs and records (which isn’t bad at all), and a more conventional ’80s-style funny-money fairy tale about success (which isn’t good).
Rock loves rap. That’s the first thing that’s obvious about this movie–particularly in a droll little montage early on, where Ice-T, Ice Cube, Flavor Flav, Eazy E, Halle Berry and the Orlando Magic’s Shaquille O’Neal appear in quick succession to offer testimonials to the gritty-grabby greatness of Cell Block Four: CB4 for short.
These dubious eulogies, part of a puff-piece CB4 documentary being shot by the obsequious and idolatrous filmmaker A. White (Chris Elliot, son of Bob and Ray’s Bob), suggest we’re in for something in the vein of “This Is Spinal Tap” or “The Rutles”–a “mockumentary,” sending up both rap’s excesses and media’s hype. But Rock and his co-scenarist Nelson George–the essayist and occasional screenwriter-producer–drop this structure soon: a shame. They move the movie into flashback, and then flash-forward, tame it a little–even while they’re stripping the masks off their central trio: Albert/Gusto, Euripides Smalls alias Dead Mike (Allen Payne) and Otis O. Otis alias Stab Master Arson (Deezer D).
“CB4” has a terrific comic point: that the “street” overtones of rap can get co-opted by middle-class kids, who have no clear idea of what the street and the underclass really are. The mock-macho gang is a crock; the real street violence comes back to haunt them. Despite their bottle-tipping, dirty-mouthed devil-may-care in the opening scenes, these guys are gag gangsters. Albert has copped both his moniker and his maniacal act from the real Gusto: a murderous, misogynist, coke-sniffing, gun-waving dude played by Charlie Murphy–who’s a ringer for his younger brother, Eddie.
Murphy’s Gusto will eventually break out of jail and try to kill them but Albert, his copycat, is about as dangerous as Kool-Aid. And the rest of CB4 are shams, too, conscious or not. When Dead Mike, the Afrocentric ideologue/idealist of the trio, later records a consciousness-raising solo song, the lyrics sound like “I’m black; I’m black; I’m blackety-blackety-black.” And Otis a.k.a. Stab Master is a pudgy rich kid who wants amour with a real-life centerfold. They’re all from comfortable homes and, at one point, Albert’s Pops (Art Evans) reviles his son for pretending to be “street” when he wasn’t born poor–like Pops was.
“CB4” is directed by Tamra Davis–and she gives the movie the sizzle and style she put into her rock videos and her recent flashy film-noir update “Guncrazy.” Mostly, Davis tries to showcase the cast and the songs: the right ploy, since the cast and songs are the best things about “CB4.” Most of the actors give funny, full-bodied performances; the fullest bodied and funniest may be Khandi Alexander’s turn as Sissy, a voracious groupie with alligator eyes.
The score–by composer John Barnes and music supervisor Bill Stephney–is full of raucous rap parodies, rollicking rap standards (by Ice Cube, Ice-T, LL Cool J, Public Enemy and others), all mixed up so that no one who watches the movie will be able to say that rap is nothing more than rhymes and brags with a jackhammer beat. One of the more adventurous of the recent African-American comedies, it still gets bogged down in those movie-movie formulas, those phony recipes for success.
While on a hiatus from his long stint on Saturday Night Live, comedian Chris Rock took time to write and star in this film spoofing the world of gangster rap and hip hop. Directed by Tamra Davis (“Billy Madison”; “Half Baked”), “CB4” stars Chris Rock as Albert Brown, a young African-American guy living in Locash, California who dreams of making it big as a major rap star. With his friends, Euripides (Allen Payne of “Jason’s Lyric”) and Stabmaster Arson (Deezer D), Albert sets his sights on landing a contract with mega produced Trustus Jones.
However, trouble comes along when Gusto (played by Eddie Murphy’s brother, Charlie Murphy), the owner of the most popular club is arrested in a drug transaction that Albert witnessed (Gusto believes he was an informer). With Gusto out for revenge on Albert, Albert decides to take advantage of Gusto’s name and personality and create the biggest, baddest rap group of all time– CB4 (short for Cell Block 4).
Throughout the film, the band faces challenges to their freedom of speech, problems in their love lives, band disunity, and a reconnection with their African roots. With a variety of jokes primarily targeted for urban minorities, CB4 will have you rolling on the floor laughing.
Also starring in the film is the late Phil Hartman who plays a California conservative politician bent on destroying CB4. Khandi Alexander (television’s “Talk Radio,” which also had Hartman as a cast member) is hysterical as the hip hop groupie Sissy who is a “businesswoman” due to her get rich scheme of capturing rap stars in embarrassing Polaroid shots and blackmailing them.
Chris Rock has sure come a long way from his days on Saturday Night Live. “CB4” was his first starring role, and after watching this film you’ll see why he is one of the funniest comics alive today. “CB4” is to rap music as “This is Spinal Tap” was to rock. It’s funny to the last minute.
CB4 can be compared as the SPINAL TAP of gangster rap in the mid- or early 90’s. Almost the same documentary type of format, CB4 shows the roots and development of a legendary rap group named after a criminal who was recently jailed and put into cell block 4.
Throughout the movie, you’ll here ridiculous songs like Straight Out of Locash, a parody of NWA’s Straight out of Compton which is absolutely hilarious, Sweat From My Balls, pretty self-explanatory and other hits from CB4 which make this movie great.
If you enjoy Chris Rock or any SNL, this is a must buy. I rank this up with Anchorman, Happy Gilmore and National Lampooon’s Vacation in classic comedies that I have seen.
If you enjoyed this movie, I also recommend watching a similar but lower budget film called *iggaz With Hats, excuse the title. I think the latter may even be closer to SPINAL TAP and has more over the top themes.
That pic of them dudes laughing is going to infuriate these trolls just watch.
It won’t. No one cares about that picture besides you stans.
LOoLoOL, dude I swear to god I saw that photo and then looked at the comments and spit soda all over my IPAD LoOL Ross and Khaled laughing at these kids and they are sooooooo mad!
Bawse!!
You’re wrong, stanley. Ross and Khaled are making fun of you losers defending them when they don’t even know you.
Tookie Williams and Ace Hoodie are the same stan troll.
Hahaha we got them mad as shit! One of them is so shook up he is dropping comments about my name! LOoLOoL epicness!
The only mad ones are you stans getting pissed while everyone else is making fun of these two fat rejects.
LOoOoLwe got em responding to all our comments trying to explain theirselfs LoOL :0
Bawse!!
Who’s “we?” You’re alone. Everyone’s making fun of you and your heroes.
Ross fans love to look at pictures of fat guys.
I prefer to enjoy the hundreds of Keri Hilson pictures on my HD while you geeks get hard over fat men smiling and rubbing each other
No one believes you.
The crudity and ignorance of so-called “gangsta rap” is such a self-caricature that it would almost seem redundant to spoof the genre, but Chris Rock and co. effectvely manage to do this with success. The “LoCash Crew’s” foolishness and stupidity could easily be mistaken for a real rap documentary. However, I really liked the scene here Chris Rock’s father lays down the law about this mockery of ghetto life, which really is not funny at all. I wish some real rappers (some who appeared in this film) would have gotten the point!! The late Eazy (Eric Wright) E, who deserves the blame for inventing this garbage-filled genre and whom this film is largely based on, appears in a cameo.
Last night (February 11), Rick Ross hosted a Mastermind album release party at New World Stages in New York City and AFH was in the building. The event was a star-studded affair, with Ross and Meek Mill there from MMG, as well as DJ Khaled, Fabolous, Busta Rhymes, Mack Wilds, Bow Wow and a host of music industry heavyweights.
After some fits and starts at the door and getting into the theater, DJ Khaled set the tone for the evening by boldly encouraging all media outlets present to quote him as saying Mastermind is a mutha!!in cla##ic. Even despite Khaleds bias as an executive producer, that was a big statement. He then introduced Ross who said a few words and made it clear he was going to let the music speak for itself. He asked for the music to commence, offered a couple of anticipatory uhnns and walked off stage.
And then, it beganThe b0mbast that came from the prodigious sound system was 2nd only to the Jay Z/Kanye West system used to preview Watch the Throne in the sheer brute force of its volume. Unlike that listening session, however, the Ross music was still audible and not overwhelming with its decibels. The intro, which was released this week, features a brief monologue with a man describing the capabilities of a mastermind. The intro, along with each subsequent song, was accompanied by visuals that were directly-related to the audio (in this case the actual visual clip from which the monologue was lifted).
Immediately out of the intro, the album launches into Rich Is Gangsta, a power-track not in the vein of Blowin Money Fast and 911, but of the more soulful variety. The corresponding visuals evoked the power of the song, with images ranging from plentiful bars of gold to Michael Jordan sporting his six championship rings. Like many of Ross themes on Rich Forever, this is one of his street motivation anthems.
What followed from tracks 2 through 11 was the strongest sequencing of songs ever on any Rick Ross album. Period. If he had stopped there and thrown in Sanctified, Thug Cry (The J.U.S.T.I.C.E. Leagues interpretation of Billy Cobhams song Heather, the sample that powered Souls Of Mischiefs 93 til Infinity) and bonus cuts Blessings In Disguise (featuring Scarface) and Paradise Lost, many might be lining up to call this album a cla##icand plenty still may. But, a song or two toward the end (The Weeknd a##isted In Vein sounded more Weeknd than Ross and Walkin on Air with Meek Mill broke no new ground), represented the only POTENTIALLY skippable fare on the album, in our opinionat least on first listen.
Standout tracks from songs 2-11 were aplenty. Shots Fired begins with news reports on the infamous attack on Ross Maybach in Miami and then proceeds to go full tilt at his haters. Nobody, produced by Diddy, revisits Biggies ominous Nobody Till Somebody k#lls You, drawing on that hook and including ad-libs from Diddy that are equally venomous as those he spit on B.I.G.s record. The Devil Is A Lie has already est@blished itself as one of the finest of the many Ross/Jay Z collabos. War Ready, released last week, finds both Ross and Jeezy sharp over a fittingly aggressive beat. What A Shame pays homage to Ol Dirty Bastard. Sanctified, featuring Big Sean and Kanye West (also produced by West), takes the Gospel-Rap fusion prototyped by West and fined tuned by Meek Mill, and deftly expands on that sound. And, BLK & WHT boasts of drug dealer riches but in the end flips the script with Ross (at least on screen in the visuals) encouraging those making their living in the streets to get an education.
In fact, its songs like BLK & WHT, Shots Fired, Nobody and What A Shame that help to elevate Mastermind over previous Ross works. Whereas almost all of his music possesses a cinematic quality and even he, himself, presents a persona that at times is bigger than life, these and other songs on Mastermind break the fourth wall and let us into Ross reality. Its a world where he acknowledges and salutes his musical influences and at times spins cautionary tales about what happens in the streets instead of celebrating it. He even takes moments to poke fun at himself, as he does in the Rich !! Skit where a fictitious woman BAWSE goes to extreme lengths to prove just how baller she is. You think Rick Ross is not keenly aware of how he is perceived? Think again. This is a more circumspect and fleshed out version of Rick Ross..
There is no doubt to us that this is Rick Ross best work yet. Will it be viewed as a cla##ic? Only time will tell
Show us how mad we can make you! :p
And that’s a message to the Ross fanboys.
They mad mayne, in they feelins.
Free Big Guwop
Yeah, we got those Ross groupies.
The SpamStan needs to change his gimmick he is boring, So Icy is funny as shit with his gimmick we were on SoHH pissing everybody off.
Irony.
Khaled is a Boss.
NOT!!!!
As long as WTB keep making platinum singles Khaled will be relevant.
Yet the albums don’t sell shit.
Khaled knows what he is doing, he has 90 songs in his BMI catalog so he is eating good off his publishing.
And he ain’t gonna share any of it with you, so defending him is pointless.
And he ain’t gonna share any of it with you so attacking him is pointless.
The Stan guy calls it “defending” when you share information about publishing in response to someone calling Khaled a Boss, he is an attention lover because his MOm did not hug him enough.
You like 40 year old mane… go outside and meet a girl and settle down. I`m sure your crackhead mom been waiting for some grandkids for a while now.
im 40 and i buy is champagne all the time when i pop bottles after i get my welfare check
Ross got too much money to worry bout what a bunch of internet hating ass niggas gotta say. Ross gon keep collectin checks, makin hit records and staying in the highest tax bracket to care what niggas who couldn’t get a job flipping burgers gotta say. Its true when you successful niggas love to hate cuz they envy the stacks.
Bawse!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi, stanley.
Ross may be wealthy and successful because he has been on the Forbes list 5 straight years making 6-8 million a year but last year a white kid made the list with the same earnings so Ross streak doesent count.
he wasnt really on the list last year, he got an honorable mention for being tied with Jeezy, Mac Miller and Questlove
Next year Rozay will be higher with all that endorsement money and the champain plus he is going on a international tour.
No one buys his `champain` but they drink it for free when he gives it out.
ANDRES TARDIO FUCKING SUCKS
Do you remember a time when people still wore Jheri Curls? When women loved Allen Payne with a passion? When Chris Rock had his original teeth and crack body, and looked like he had 15 cents to his name? When Stoney Jackson was still occasionally working (Theresa Randle too)? When Charlie Murphy was not even close to being as funny as Eddie? When Khandi Alexander looked 20 years older than she does now? When no one knew who Deezer D was (nothings changed on that one, btw)?
Well I do. And all of that comes together in the 1993 hip-hop/rap spoof CB4. When this first came out, I was totally unimpressedit starred Chris Rock , who I thought was unbearable to look at at the time, and was directed by Tamra Davis, whose ghetto pass has always been a constant source of wonder and disappointment to me. People were still completely enamored with the South Central phenom Dr. Dre (The Chronic) and Doggystyle by Snoop Dogg was still absolutely HUGE and a must have and play in everybodys car. It was also written by Nelson George, whom I still till this day dont understand why was deemed the voice of hip hop culture.
So of course, no one was tryna see or hear a project that dissed that whole genre. Everyone was buying into into it, so if you were going against the grain, you were instantly wack. And I think that is the exact reason it did not do well on all fronts at the timeit was too soon to make a satire of the scene. It just seemed like a weak, uninspired diss (but probably not to those who knew better). Like I said, no one was trying to hear that, only Dres beats at maximum bass and treble capacity.
But not having seen it since it came out, I realize that is was an amazing statement on the fakeness of gangsta rap, and the whole concept of the South Central culture, which, if you are truly living that life, is absolutely nothing to be glorified. There is even dialogue alluding to that in the film. But it also skewers commercial sell-out rappers (a la Hammer), video hoes, slimy record execs, so-called hip hop early staples like 40 ounces, and so-called militant rap (a la Public Enemy and its offshoots).
It is the story of a group of 3 buddies, toiling in their ordinary dead end lives, decide to form a rap group, going through several different transformations (one a hilarious PM Dawn-like riff), until they hit pay dirt with a not too thinly veiled imitation of the ghetto super-group NWA. They go through their breakup and eventually reunion, learning life lessons along the way, with the inevitable YT groupies hanging on to every detail.
This film was ahead of its time, and I actually laughed out loud a few times, something that definitely didnt happen the first time around. Some of the ideas were just so absurd and funny to me; Wacky D and his parachute pants and one leg in the air dancing, the musclebound sidekick talking through a voicebox, the heightened sleaziness of Khandi Alexanders Supahead-like groupie. It was all so ridiculous and on point all at the same time.
This is a spot on spoof of what was really going on in that scene in the early nineties, but we were too mesmerized by the head nodding to notice. I hope films such as this have a chance to come back in a real way, cause they actually have a sharp eye for human comedy and tragedy melded into one its all the same parts of the pie, and what lies beneath in Black love and culture is much more than meets the eye.
Madame Invisible is presently lamenting all the Black writers, directors, and projects that were given visibility in the 90s, and seem to have disappeared of the face of the planet. Can someone please help?
I couldnt find the trailer, so here is the scene of Dead Mike in his pseudo-Chuck D video Im Black YAll, and thats all he says, over and over againhilarious!
DJ Khaled the type of nigga who has to pay for sex, and even when he pays the escorts he still gotta beg them for it.
Heres a summary of the album
-Bitches getting fucked on expensive rugs (and tiptoeing along Ross marble floors back to their boyfriends)
-Niggas getting killed over failed drug deals
-Wack rappers will get ethered for not stacking paper like the bawse
– Gleaming gold statues of Rozay the Legendary will be erected at the Port of Miami
Yes, hes an ex-correctional officer that adopted the moniker of the inventor of crack cocaine to rap about a life that he has not authentically lived. Yes, hes a pulchritudinous human being who is similarly fat, black and possibly uglier than the Notorious B.I.G.but lacks Biggies charisma in pulling off sex raps.
Mastermind will no doubt be another notch to add to Ross’ gargantuan belt. He’s had more number one hits as well as multiplatinum/gold albums than anyone in the past 8 years. You can bet your last dollar that in the year 3014, people will still be discussing the impact that Rick Ross has had on the rap game.
what number 1 hits
The Gimmick is played so stop wasting the effort and go get laid
What multiplatinum album?
Cuting a smooth groove between smart-arsed satire and anarchic comedy, Tamra Davis’ send-up of rap music’s superstar fraternity doesn’t always hit the beat, but there are enough in-your-face moments to keep the laughs coming, all served up with a thumpingly funny soundtrack and the sort of X-rated one-liners that would make Mary Whitehouse explode.
Albert Brown (Rock), Euripides Smalls (Payne) and Otis O. Otis (D.) are three black middle-class boys from L.A., desperate to acquire some street-cred and become rap masters. When the local gangster, Gusto, gets busted and ends up in Cell Block Four, the boys see their chance. Acquiring his hardcore identity and a few tons of gold jewellery, they become CB4, ready to cuss, grab their genitals and glorify violence. On their way to rap superstardom, however, Gusto breaks out of jail and comes after the trio for cashing in on his image, while a right-wing politician targets them for defiling the national game by wearing their baseball caps back-to-front.
As the titular trio Rock, Payne and, er, D. are spot on with their piss-take of rap’s macho posturing, so too is Saturday Night Live’s Chris Elliott as the wimpy white bro’ making a “rapumentary” a la Spinal Tap on the band, while Eddie Murphy’s older brother Charlie cuts the mustard as a swaggering villain. The film’s half-parody, half-tribute approach takes the edge off the satire, however, and this occasionally gets carried away in its own silliness. But if the shift from comedy to social statement is about as subtle as Gusto’s ten-gallon condom, the homeboys and girls in the house should love every minute of it.
Last night (February 11), Rick Ross hosted a Mastermind album release party at New World Stages in New York City and AFH was in the building. The event was a star-studded affair, with Ross and Meek Mill there from MMG, as well as DJ Khaled, Fabolous, Busta Rhymes, Mack Wilds, Bow Wow and a host of music industry heavyweights.
After some fits and starts at the door and getting into the theater, DJ Khaled set the tone for the evening by boldly encouraging all media outlets present to quote him as saying Mastermind is a mutha!!in cla##ic. Even despite Khaleds bias as an executive producer, that was a big statement. He then introduced Ross who said a few words and made it clear he was going to let the music speak for itself. He asked for the music to commence, offered a couple of anticipatory uhnns and walked off stage.
And then, it beganThe b0mbast that came from the prodigious sound system was 2nd only to the Jay Z/Kanye West system used to preview Watch the Throne in the sheer brute force of its volume. Unlike that listening session, however, the Ross music was still audible and not overwhelming with its decibels. The intro, which was released this week, features a brief monologue with a man describing the capabilities of a mastermind. The intro, along with each subsequent song, was accompanied by visuals that were directly-related to the audio (in this case the actual visual clip from which the monologue was lifted).
Immediately out of the intro, the album launches into Rich Is Gangsta, a power-track not in the vein of Blowin Money Fast and 911, but of the more soulful variety. The corresponding visuals evoked the power of the song, with images ranging from plentiful bars of gold to Michael Jordan sporting his six championship rings. Like many of Ross themes on Rich Forever, this is one of his street motivation anthems.
What followed from tracks 2 through 11 was the strongest sequencing of songs ever on any Rick Ross album. Period. If he had stopped there and thrown in Sanctified, Thug Cry (The J.U.S.T.I.C.E. Leagues interpretation of Billy Cobhams song Heather, the sample that powered Souls Of Mischiefs 93 til Infinity) and bonus cuts Blessings In Disguise (featuring Scarface) and Paradise Lost, many might be lining up to call this album a cla##icand plenty still may. But, a song or two toward the end (The Weeknd a##isted In Vein sounded more Weeknd than Ross and Walkin on Air with Meek Mill broke no new ground), represented the only POTENTIALLY skippable fare on the album, in our opinionat least on first listen.
Standout tracks from songs 2-11 were aplenty. Shots Fired begins with news reports on the infamous attack on Ross Maybach in Miami and then proceeds to go full tilt at his haters. Nobody, produced by Diddy, revisits Biggies ominous Nobody Till Somebody k#lls You, drawing on that hook and including ad-libs from Diddy that are equally venomous as those he spit on B.I.G.s record. The Devil Is A Lie has already est@blished itself as one of the finest of the many Ross/Jay Z collabos. War Ready, released last week, finds both Ross and Jeezy sharp over a fittingly aggressive beat. What A Shame pays homage to Ol Dirty Bastard. Sanctified, featuring Big Sean and Kanye West (also produced by West), takes the Gospel-Rap fusion prototyped by West and fined tuned by Meek Mill, and deftly expands on that sound. And, BLK & WHT boasts of drug dealer riches but in the end flips the script with Ross (at least on screen in the visuals) encouraging those making their living in the streets to get an education.
In fact, its songs like BLK & WHT, Shots Fired, Nobody and What A Shame that help to elevate Mastermind over previous Ross works. Whereas almost all of his music possesses a cinematic quality and even he, himself, presents a persona that at times is bigger than life, these and other songs on Mastermind break the fourth wall and let us into Ross reality. Its a world where he acknowledges and salutes his musical influences and at times spins cautionary tales about what happens in the streets instead of celebrating it. He even takes moments to poke fun at himself, as he does in the Rich !! Skit where a fictitious woman BAWSE goes to extreme lengths to prove just how baller she is. You think Rick Ross is not keenly aware of how he is perceived? Think again. This is a more circumspect and fleshed out version of Rick Ross..
.
There is no doubt to us that this is Rick Ross best work yet. Will it be viewed as a cla##ic? Only time will tell
Made in the shadow of “Wayne’s World,” “CB4” is another “Saturday Night Live”-related music parody, this time skewering rap instead of heavy metal. Desperately uneven, it works best as a string of sketches about the title band, three guys who were born Albert (Chris Rock), Otis (Deezer D) and Euripides (Allen Payne) until they realized it might be more profitable to rename themselves MC Gusto, Stab Master Arson and Dead Mike.
The names are funny, and so is the act: taking their group’s name from the cellblock inhabited by an enemy, the members of CB4 appear in concert wearing denim prison fatigues while the set behind them features uniformed patrol guards and searchlights. Outfitted with gold chains, gold teeth and fake long hair, the group members belt out lyrics that are pure hostility and glare angrily at their fans. The film makers are savvy enough to enlist real rappers (Daddy-O, Hi-C and Kool Moe Dee) to blast out the vocals and give CB4’s records a salable sound.
Their popularity eventually makes them the target of a sanctimonious white politician (Phil Hartman, like Mr. Rock a “Saturday Night Live” cast member), who is made even angrier by the fact that his little son is a closet CB4 fan. “Any person who’d defile America’s pastime by wearing a baseball cap backwards — well, that’s an evil that speaks for itself!” this politician declares.
As directed by Tamra Davis (“Guncrazy”) and written by Mr. Rock, Nelson George and Robert LoCash, “CB4” promises sharper satire than it actually delivers. Pandering a shade too avidly to the real rap audience, the film sometimes tries to use the same sexist, mean-spirited ethos it makes fun of. In this vein, Khandi Alexander struts enthusiastically through the film as a predatory, gold-digging sexual athlete. She snares a couple of band members and also tempts the film’s glowering villain, Gusto (played by Charlie Murphy, Eddie’s brother).
“CB4” is also inconsistent, starting out with a “Spinal Tap” format, which it then forgets. Beginning as “A Rapumentary by A. White,” with Chris Elliott playing the star-struck white interviewer, the film incorporates a fast string of cameos from Halle Berry, Ice Cube, Ice-T, Flavor Flav and others. (If you don’t know Ice-T from Ice Cube or can’t spot the Spike Lee parody, count on missing a lot.) Then the documentary trails off, and the three principals are seen plotting their show-business rise. There are also sentimental scenes between Albert and his father (Arthur Evans), who means to give his son sound advice but has terrible taste in music.
When CB4 appears on a call-in radio show and Mr. Payne’s character is asked about his favorite foods, he solemnly asks whether the listener knows a black man invented ice cream.
Heres a summary of the album
-Street activities
-Club activities
-Party activities
-Luxury activities
LOL STREET ACTIVITIES.
YOU MEAN BLATANT LIES AND FAIRYTALES
That Mafia Music beat is bannannas
The Sactified beat too.
They heated. LOL, I been laughing so hard this Asian chick next to my cubicle is laughing with me and doesent even know why shes laughing!
I like how you make up bullshit. You’re at home alone.
Bink that was beefin with Just Blaze did the prod on the Mafia Music beat.
BruthaDee / Max the type of nigga who lurks Rick Ross IG, waits for a nigga to hate on him for remaking a Biggie song, then calls him an freakish dude!! He couldn’t call him a white geek that time because it was a black guy hating on his hero Ross.
Then he clicked on the mans IG and proceeded to leave more keyboard warrior comments on the mans photos about his looks all because he dissed Ross!!! HAHAHAHAH
A 40 yr old guy is really out here creeping at young dudes pictures and calling them ugly and freakish because they’re not sexy enough for him. It’s no wonder this guy is always asking for our Twitter and IG’s and complain about DX commenters not having to show their faces!!!! HES A HOMO THUG!!!!!”
“BruthaDee is a career groupie, just ignore him. He be on here callin people geeks and nerds while he’s on IG defending Ross like thats his daddy… He definitely gets no bitches or sex. Them selfies he taking in his shitty car ain’t working out.
He’s super ugly too which is ironic because he likes to take shots at other black males appearances while he cheerleads for an overweight slob with rolls on the back of his head!!!! BRAP BRAP BRAP”
A career groupie would imply that this delusional demented old ass negro gets paid to be all up on Rozays dick everyday of his life. I don’t think Ricky wants mentally ill 40 years olds STANNING (He hates that word but it’s what he is) him online making all his fans look like beotches.
Everyone on this website is a white skinned virgin geek who never leaves the basement and knows nothing about the streets except for me. I’m in touch with what the streets are saying and despite me commenting on here all the time I’m the only one who’s not a nerdy loser with no friends and I go outside and get laid ALL THE TIME.
What happened? Why the haters so upset?
Obsessed reverse-Stans lashing out again. Shit is giggles like a muhg.
What happened? Why the dickriders so upset?
LOL that pic freakin kills me every time I click on hear I love HHDX
A picture of two minorities laughing with expensive jewelry on themselves.
Rented jewelry.
Jewelry is a bad investment, so renting actually makes more sense.
you cant rent custom pieces with your logos or fat face on them but maybe something like a jesus piece
2 Rich faggots who never been in the streets a day in their lives. At least Khaled never locked his black brethren up for selling dope then rapped about.
DJ Khaled hads rich arab parents who own gas stations and convenience stores like all arabs, he bought his way into the industry.
In 1992, when Ross was 16, county records show that his mother, Tommie Roberts, purchased a 2,300 square foot home in Rolling Oaks Estates, an upscale cul-de-sac community in Miami Gardens.
Fact: Ross one of the hottest rappers in the game. he got legends like Jay, Nas, Diddy and Scarface cosigning him. Last time I check those guys don’t just work wit anyone you gotta have buzz for them to work with ya. Rozay got buzz. jeezy came crawlin back to Ross when he realized his career was goin nowhere. At the end of the day yall niggas can keep comin wit the same corny cop jokes and fat jokes but its about business and the fact remains Rozay brings in the money.
Fact: Ross has already dropped 3 classic albums. Deeper than Rap, Teflon Don and God Forgives I don’t. Name any other rapper with a catalog as good as Ross had in the last 5 years. There aint none. 50 the snitch fell off, Nas don’t release enough, Jay more about his other business and Wayne straight ass. And Rozay always picks the best beats.
Fact: Too many emotional niggas on here carin to much bout what another man did in his past. This is hip hop it about the music not about what another nigga did in his past. Half yall hatin ass niggas just be mad cuz you still flippin burgers and makin fries while Ross makin millions owning wingstops and makin good music. Yall don’t see Ross goin on and talkin shit cuz half you niggas still live in yo moms basement while making 7.50 an hour at BK. Stop talkin bout anothers man past and focus on the music which Ross makes classic.
Bawse!!!!!!!!!
Rappers LOVE making music with Ross and putting him on their albums, Ross is not the most popular rapper but big name platinum rappers like Drake, Wayne, Nas, JayZ, Nicki, & T.I. will put him on their albums.
And none of this is true.
Load of BS those rappers only put Ross on their albums to make the G Unit nerds mad.
Sounds like Ross grew up better than half of the white skinned geeks I went to school with
“those rappers only put Ross on their albums to make the G Unit nerds mad.”
If that was true, then they failed as no one’s riding for G-Unit anymore.
White people hate Arabs almost as much as they hate Black people.
Every race hates Arabs.
Arabs are worthless, they’re not even black
We dont hate Arabs we just hate Khaled because he is an enemy of 50s
nah i dont even like 50 but khaled just puts out the same album every fucking year with the same people plus whoever is hot that year
Miami go a nice little lineup with WTB, YMCMB and MMG but Hotlanta is still the Mecca.
NY runs the game, just as Hov, and Diddy
Ross is going to be on Fallon tonight with the Roots, please Let them do Devil in a Blue Dress and Aston Martin music.
WTF is Devil in a Blue Dress….
A Kanye West song that features Ross. It was off of MBDTF.
i thought it was new dress?
Devil in a new dress, devil in a blue dress, whatever that was one of my fans off MBDTF
They say thats the best verse Ross ever spit
March 4th we get to hear that Scarface track. I’m going to blow me some sour and drive down Sunset.
first you gonna blow some cocks just to get the 12 bucks to buy that album
Damn niggas on here catching feelings and shit. It’s only music, granted Rozay stupid to do shit like this but y’all niggas actin like he out there killin kids and shit. It’s music dumbasses not life. What about niggas talkin bout how they gonna kill other Niggas families. Niggas just hate on Ross cuz they sheep and its popular to hate on Ross.
Bawse!!!!!!!!!
I don’t hate Rozay, I respect him for what he did for Meek and Wale and I like his music, I dont have room to hate but if and when I did I would reserve it for a person worthy of it.
“list 5 straight years making 6-8 million a year but last year a kid made the list with the same earnings so Ross streak doesent count”
Does that kid have 30 million in the bank, 4 gold records, platinum/gold singles, and influential friends? Of course not.
Ross doesn’t have those either, aside from the gold albums.
Ross be giving niggas jobs and careers I don’t care how much bread he got in the stash I’m just glad a nigga lookin out for his own.
No, he doesn’t. He screws over other people just like Birdman.
I think Ross is a little too generous, you cant save the entire hood, I wouldnt have signed Stalley, Tracy, Stalley or Rockie Fresh them cats arent marketable I would sign a cat like Macklemore or Rocky.
you sniff glue if you think ross has anything close to 30 million in the bank, networth does not equal money in the bank
Nas makes music so Kelis can live properly.
Lamer.
Kendrick Lamar makes music for people who drive in the carpool lane illegally.
Lame.
give it up quarter of a man, you got no jokes
whiteboys done f_cked up another comment section, smdh
like, outta all the topics and real discussions about music we can have, and we gotta bunch of f_ck nerds here posting the most goofiest dork talk they can imagine talkin bout haters n d-riders, fuck outta here.
how you know they white
black people hate ross with a passion just look on twitter or IG
Let them vent, if they wasnt here showing their hate on here they would be burnin a kross on somebodys lawn.
Khaled is one of the biggest Rick Ross stans after that black 40 year old guy in all the comment sections of the hip-hop website with his selfie pic. Word is he got banned from all the forums he used to frequent for being a racist troll. He had like 20k posts but calls everyone nerds and geeks stuck in the basement! IRONY AT ITS FINEST.
Anyone ever notice fat guys always befriend other fat slobs so they can eat together and share their fat related problems with each other.
Never noticed that but I noticed artists from the same cities usually befriend each other so they can work together.
khaled aint even from miami though
hes from NO
“Never noticed that but I noticed artists from the same cities usually befriend each other so they can work together.”
Well duh if you live in the same city its easier to hit the studio together thats why you see so many collaborations with the labels headquartered there.
Miami need to have a mega concert at American Airline Arena with all the crews that would be Turnt.
they would have to call YMCMB to fill the arena because Ross and MMG couldnt fill one
@Anonymous man just put Trina on the stage and have Pitbull there so all the bad Latina chicks come, Pitbull concerts got hoes.
glad we can agree MMG cant fill an arena on their own
Na got a phattie but I always had a thang for Jackie O, she aint that pretty but she sexy as fuck!
DJ KHALED GETS NO PUSSY EVEN WITH HIS MONEY, THESE DUDES ARE DISGUSTING AND HAVE TO RAPE WOMEN OR PAY THEM STACKS OF CASH JUST TO GET LAID
ROSS EVEN PAID A WHORE TO CARRY ONE OF HIS CHILDREN I JERKED OFF TO HER SEXTAPE ONCE BUT COULDNT CUM BECAUSE SHES SO NASTY
Heard they giving out free copies of Mastermind with the purchase of a 6pc of wings at Wingstop just to boost sales.
This person thinks that giving away free copies of an album will help boost its sales.
it will boost chicken sales but he will have to buy his own albums which we already know he does anyway
you shouldnt be able to put DJ in front of ya name if you dont know how to spin records. playing songs on the radio doesnt count. hes a fraud like william roberts.
Ross really looks monkey like in that picture, or ape like you could say.
Ross got a crazy work ethic but whats the point of having all that money if you are in the studio, on the road, filming vidies, performing or doing promotion all the time? Take a break dawg and enjoy the fruiits of your sucksess.
Khaled said GFID was going to be a classic before it came out too so you gotta take what he says with a grain of salt.
2Pac’s crack, 2Pac’s crack
Theres all these C.O. niccas searching 2Pac’s crack
Rubber gloves on me, you can picture that colon
With my brand new cuffs, know them wrists gon be swollen
Guarding on Death Row, Hookers having my baby
But I’m eating my chicken I need a new bowl of gravy
They searching 2pac’s crack, 2pac’s crack
There’s all these C.O. rappers spreading 2pac’s crack
fucking homo, who the fuck writes that type of shit?
its a meek mill song fool
Dude called me a homo but I’m not the one who used to search inmates buttholes for drugs everyday for 22k a year.
Strange fantasy, lol.
its not a fantasy. that was rick ross job. when i was 19 i was out getting pussy but he was elbow deep in niggas ass cracks and watching them shower in the pen
@ “Anonymous:
“Strange fantasy, lol.”
I doubt its a fantasy, the frequency with which he talks about it he must have experienced it.
You must know about experiencing it if that happened to you.
I know people who done time and its not a joke. Shit is real in there. Ross used to do that shit for a living just to put chicken in his belly.
The reviews from the listening sessions have been positive so far.
From Ross’ crew.
Looking for a witty, dead-on parody of the hard-core rap scene? If so, you’ll probably watch CB4 ticking off the missed opportunities. This raucous comedy charts the rise of a furious trio of gangsta rappers, CB4 (it stands for Cell Block 4), who take their name from the prison wing in which they supposedly did time. The joke is that their outlaw image is all a fraud. Led by a sweet-faced kid named Albert Brown (Chris Rock), who starts calling himself M.C. Gusto, CB4 are just middle-class kids from Locash, Calif., (that’s right, Locash are you laughing yet?), who put on prison work shirts and churlish scowls and con the public into thinking they’re hard-shelled thugs.
Early on, we see the group trying out various stage personas at a local rap club a scene seemingly inspired by the one in This Is Spinal Tap that flashed back to the band’s flower-power days. Except that here, the joke isn’t given enough time to settle in. The CB4 crew appear for an instant in back-to-Africa dashikis, then with shower caps on their heads (are you laughing yet?), and then the routine’s over. A little later, they’re rapping in a car along with a Run-D.M.C. tape a scene obviously inspired by the ”Bohemian Rhapsody” sing- along in Wayne’s World. Except that here, nothing crazy-silly is going on; the tape player just starts playing at the wrong speed. Finally, we get the obligatory mock video clip: It’s a rape-and-pillage fantasy called ”Straight Out of Locash,” and it features the rappers strutting along Los Angeles back , alleys, sticking their ferocious mugs in the camera, dissing the cops… but wait a minute, it looks exactly like a real rap video.
It was at this point that I began to realize why nothing in this movie is very funny. CB4 would like to be a savage hip-hop lampoon, but, in fact, the film strikes a cautious balance between satire and homage. It can’t decide whether it wants to ridicule CB4 or hold the group up as role models. What we’re left with is a soggy catalog of rap cliches.
Chris Rock has done some amusing hip-hop parodies on Saturday Night Live, but in CB4 he makes an alarmingly ascetic rap hero. With his high, strangulated voice and pretty-boy-scarecrow physique, Rock lacks authority on the big screen, and so the movie has no center. We can certainly believe in Albert as a middle-class poseur. What CB4 never begins to satirize is the character he’s posing as: the nihilistic rap hustler whose ”criminal” image is inseparable from his desire to make a killing in the record industry. You get the feeling that gangsta rap’s show-biz intimidation tactics did a job on the filmmakers, too.
This album needs to succeed. Gunplay needs some ProActiv to clear up his 34 year old adult acne.
Some people are mad that Khaled uses mainly Florida rappers on his albums but thats love, if DJ Premeir did a album it would be 99 percent new York rappers
Once you hear one Khaled song, you’ve heard them all.
Ross is the only artist to appear on all 7 Khaled albums. These fat fucks are fuck buddies.
I remember I liked some of his songs when he first came out around 06/07 but he played that shit out hard.
Drama and Scream make dope Mixtapes but Clue was always my favorite.
Ross ended his beef with jeezy, but why not 50?
Ross and Jeezy live in the same state and are on the same Label and have made music in the past, plus Jeezy is a relevant artist. Im just glad that Camron and Nas ended their beef because they are two NY legends.
50 beat down gunplay, took his chain and put it in a music video, flew his ex out to NY, took her shopping got her to expose william for being a liar, a c.o. and a spoiled momma’s boy who was also a dead beat dad, put out a sex tape from his other baby momma, had his kids at floyds mansion with diddy on video…. basically ross picked a 50 and got embarassed and his street cred ruined so he will never forgive curtis for that, relevant or not.
Ross used 50 to become a bigger artist but it cost him any credibility and authenticity he had left. Now he will always be looked at as the hip-hop cop, officer ricky… biggest fraud we’ve seen thus far.
Ross makes chess moves, just like he manipulated 50 to take his career to the next level he made a move with Jeezy ro keep the South crackin and build their buzz for their label.
Look at Ross career after the beef and look at 50s career after the beef, 50 pretty much got the
Ja Rule treatment and now he is on an Indie like Joe Budden.
“he made a move with Jeezy ro keep the South crackin and build their buzz for their label.”
too bad it didnt work and he ended up looking like a bitch nigga in the end who got renegaded on his own album
“Ross makes chess moves, just like he manipulated 50 to take his career to the next level”
Them chess moves got his mans beat down and robbed, his kids exploited, baby moms exploited, sex tapes and all. Financial records exposed, court documents exposed showing he was a dead beat dad. He got a funny way of playing chess.
The South has always been more unified than other regions, the West has the gang issues and the East is cliquish but the South show love.
the south didnt have the skills to pay the bills so they had to team up and join forces
“Ross makes chess moves, just like he manipulated 50 to take his career to the next level”
50 expended a lot of time and energy and in the end all his actions made Ross a bigger artist and made 50 a less relevant artist. 50s behavior impressed his fans and young kids but adults and music fans were looking for MUSIC not buffoonery.
Thats why the 50 Stans always talk about court documents and sex tapes but never mention the music, when people talk Nas and Jayz they talk about Ether and Takeover because Nas and JayZ fans are impressed by music. Every fanbase is different and rappers have to cater to what their fans want and desire.
This guy is cheerleading for Ross hard, even twisting the truth while doing it.
50 indie will make more money than Ross getting screwed by the majors.
“50s behavior impressed his fans and young kids but adults and music fans were looking for MUSIC not buffoonery.”
I remember that shit impressed Game and even Meek Mill, even he was laughing at his now boss. he knows ross a fake but he feeds him so he gotta be loyal, i respect that.
if we compare catalogs 50 has ross by a long shot. 30+ mixtapes most of them better than any ross album….
Yall people saying 50 is still relevent is just sad. This dude was big coming up and his debut was great and ever since his debut besides the movie soundtrack has been garbage. The Massacre has maybe 3 good songs, Curtis got like 7 hot songs, and BISD got about 5. ITS SHOCKING that he still has fans after putting out garbage after garbage like this. Some people just wont let go of Get Rich or die Tryin. The so called battle rapper has lost every beef he has been in besides Ja Rule. Then after he beat Ja Rule he copied him and started singing every song haha. Game single handedly ended this dude and the whole G-Units career cuz he lrically didled him every chance he had and 50 was way to scared to respond cuz he sucks. And as far as all the hate on Rick Ross. Ever since the little back and fourth with 50 he has been arguably the MOST relevent rapper in the game. Rick Ross last two album have been great, (deeper than rap and teflon don) and his last two mixtapes have been great too and the new MMG album self made is crazy too so all u dudes hatin is jealous. BAWSE!! Get ready for 50 to release his 1st single and its another RnB record and another CD flop, sales and critically!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“50s behavior impressed his fans and young kids but adults and music fans were looking for MUSIC ”
I remember Game and Meek being impressed. Meek was laughing at his now boss. Even he knows Ross is a fake but he’s feeding him and his people so I respect the loyalty to a degree.
If you wanna talk music we could do that. 50 put out well over 30 mixtapes for free, most of them are better than any Ross album….
Game fan cant talk because that dude is just as irrelevant as 50 but without ANY DEAL and has even less people checking out for his music.
50 made him famous and birthed his whole career, without 50 cent Game music would still be sitting on Dr Dre’s shelf and he would be giving lap dances for rent money.
Rick Ross Mastermind Album is His Finest Yet. Some May Say Cla##ic (Food For Thought)
Last night (February 11), Rick Ross hosted a Mastermind album release party at New World Stages in New York City and AFH was in the building. The event was a star-studded affair, with Ross and Meek Mill there from MMG, as well as DJ Khaled, Fabolous, Busta Rhymes, Mack Wilds, Bow Wow and a host of music industry heavyweights.
After some fits and starts at the door and getting into the theater, DJ Khaled set the tone for the evening by boldly encouraging all media outlets present to quote him as saying Mastermind is a mutha!!in cla##ic. Even despite Khaleds bias as an executive producer, that was a big statement. He then introduced Ross who said a few words and made it clear he was going to let the music speak for itself. He asked for the music to commence, offered a couple of anticipatory uhnns and walked off stage.
And then, it beganThe b0mbast that came from the prodigious sound system was 2nd only to the Jay Z/Kanye West system used to preview Watch the Throne in the sheer brute force of its volume. Unlike that listening session, however, the Ross music was still audible and not overwhelming with its decibels. The intro, which was released this week, features a brief monologue with a man describing the capabilities of a mastermind. The intro, along with each subsequent song, was accompanied by visuals that were directly-related to the audio (in this case the actual visual clip from which the monologue was lifted).
Immediately out of the intro, the album launches into Rich Is Gangsta, a power-track not in the vein of Blowin Money Fast and 911, but of the more soulful variety. The corresponding visuals evoked the power of the song, with images ranging from plentiful bars of gold to Michael Jordan sporting his six championship rings. Like many of Ross themes on Rich Forever, this is one of his street motivation anthems.
What followed from tracks 2 through 11 was the strongest sequencing of songs ever on any Rick Ross album. Period. If he had stopped there and thrown in Sanctified, Thug Cry (The J.U.S.T.I.C.E. Leagues interpretation of Billy Cobhams song Heather, the sample that powered Souls Of Mischiefs 93 til Infinity) and bonus cuts Blessings In Disguise (featuring Scarface) and Paradise Lost, many might be lining up to call this album a cla##icand plenty still may. But, a song or two toward the end (The Weeknd a##isted In Vein sounded more Weeknd than Ross and Walkin on Air with Meek Mill broke no new ground), represented the only POTENTIALLY skippable fare on the album, in our opinionat least on first listen.
Standout tracks from songs 2-11 were aplenty. Shots Fired begins with news reports on the infamous attack on Ross Maybach in Miami and then proceeds to go full tilt at his haters. Nobody, produced by Diddy, revisits Biggies ominous Nobody Till Somebody k#lls You, drawing on that hook and including ad-libs from Diddy that are equally venomous as those he spit on B.I.G.s record. The Devil Is A Lie has already est@blished itself as one of the finest of the many Ross/Jay Z collabos. War Ready, released last week, finds both Ross and Jeezy sharp over a fittingly aggressive beat. What A Shame pays homage to Ol Dirty Bastard. Sanctified, featuring Big Sean and Kanye West (also produced by West), takes the Gospel-Rap fusion prototyped by West and fined tuned by Meek Mill, and deftly expands on that sound. And, BLK & WHT boasts of drug dealer riches but in the end flips the script with Ross (at least on screen in the visuals) encouraging those making their living in the streets to get an education.
In fact, its songs like BLK & WHT, Shots Fired, Nobody and What A Shame that help to elevate Mastermind over previous Ross works. Whereas almost all of his music possesses a cinematic quality and even he, himself, presents a persona that at times is bigger than life, these and other songs on Mastermind break the fourth wall and let us into Ross reality. Its a world where he acknowledges and salutes his musical influences and at times spins cautionary tales about what happens in the streets instead of celebrating it. He even takes moments to poke fun at himself, as he does in the Rich !! Skit where a fictitious woman BAWSE goes to extreme lengths to prove just how baller she is. You think Rick Ross is not keenly aware of how he is perceived? Think again. This is a more circumspect and fleshed out version of Rick Ross.
There is no doubt to us that this is Rick Ross best work yet. Will it be viewed as a cla##ic? Only time will tell
Rick Ross Mastermind Album Preview | Ambrosia For Heads
Ross only lets people who dickride him into the listening partys
Weeknd song is ass and sounds like one of Abel’s b-sides so it cant be classic.
Not to mention that atrocious butchered remake of You’re Nobody Til Somebody Kills You…. classic songs like that should not be remade EVER, especially if you’re trying to make your own classic piece of work.
This is meaningless. Remember when Meek Mill claimed he wanted to craft a classic with his album? That shit had like 3 good songs out of 17. As soon as this album drops and get rated a 3 suddenly everyone will forget the classic talk.
Ross album will fall off the charts after a month just like the last one did.
I said it before and I say it again, Rich Forever was an album and GFID had too much R&B on it.
Rich Forever was a classic Mixtape but lets not act like it wasnt an album.
it wasnt an album because he put it out for free and charged his fans for that dud we call GFID
If that would have been a double CD I wonder what the reaction would have been but I make my own mixes and burn them.
a double cd would have been too much
That video only got like 500 videos, how pathetic. LOL
that makes no sense
i clicked on the video and it say 781 now, makes sense to me. no one is interested in hear khaled slurp on rozays knob anymore.
Life must be slow if this jack off is periodically checking YouTube Vid counts.
life must be slow if you’re periodically responding to every negative comment about your hero William
I know its the extreme but theres no damn C.O.s saying…well, let me get this C.O. job to become a drug kingpin and later rap about it.
Hip-Hop wasn’t about being rich or fly when Biggie was alive…. it was about being real…. which Rick Ross just isn’t. Biggie rapped about things that applied to his own life, while Rick Ross raps in a persona that applies to another man’s life…. although I bet the real Rick Ross couldn’t rap anywhere close to the level of Rozay. I personally think Ross could be a dope rapper, but there is so little truth to his words that apply to him I cannot support him or enjoy his work.
The shiny suit era was about being rich and fly and if it was about being real then Biggie would not have rapped about living in a one room shack or sodomizing a child with a broomstick.
HipHop music is street poetry over beats so while Biggie raps from a persona of a playboy and a Big Poppa we can simply look at his baby’s mother to see the quality of pussy he had before rap.
If you want truth in your rap music then go listen to Eminems “3-Am” or Tyler, if you want truth then go listen to Dr Dre rap about gangsterism.
BruthaDee, everyone.
Nigga the Shiny Suit era was my shit! Fuck the critics, Bad Boy had that shit locked with Murda Mase.
Golden era was the best but New York was dominating back then.
and Diddy’s classic debut album was the one that changed the rap game in 97!
Diddy didnt change shit. Rap game would be perfect fine without No Way Out
Ross is a helluva Hustler, he went from a local rapper on S&S to a Forbes list rapper.
To being a fraud.
It took time, he had to grind, you cant do it overnight, I seen a artcle about him and Kanye grinding back in the day.
Yeah, grinding those chicken wings in his mouth.
Time moves fast I remember Rozay was in the Memphis Bleek video
Ok let’s face it, 50 back in the day had a few good songs, but come on dude just admit that his new shit ain’t saying shit. I still believe rick ross is a better rapper, performer and business man than 50!
BAWSE!!!!!
Ross new shit ain’t saying shit. In fact Ross music never said shit and even if it did it was all lies.
If you gotta jack a BIG song for your album your shit ain’t classic.
How many niggas you think got sent to prison after being caught by the feds trying to sell dope off they Iphones like Rozay? I swear this man is still working for the police, freeway said he’s an industry plant backed by the police union and I believe that.
Khaled a fool, look at them in that pic, they high as shit!
fat as shit.
I need dat leak somebody up a lank
hasnt leaked yet, any day now though
sweater vest ass nigga, damn niggas cant even buy swag no more
You can’t glorify the drug game when you used to be a C.O. expect to get a lot of respect. Don’t mistake rap features and collabos for respect. Rappers will hop on a song with Bieber or Macklemore if it gets them some money.
I will grab the deluxe, I need that ZRo.
and scarface!
IN ATL WE CALL HIM ROSS HOGAN CAUSE HES ON THAT WWF SHIT
Rozay bout to drop a banger!
I wish Rozay could have found a way to get the Bobby Womack song on here but I will gladly take
Keith Sweat.
he isn’t a great artist. his lyrics consist of undercooked bland and shallow mafioso references, about cocaine as if we’re still in the cocaine era in 2014.
he has no real personality or direction, sometimes he’s a mafioso boss, sometimes he’s a trap lord, sometimes he’s big meech, sometimes he’s john gotti, sometimes he’s scarface.
the reason i can’t fuck with him if he’s fake is because if he never experienced the shit he claims (which is obvious) is then it means he’s pushing bullshit and brainwashing shit into people’s heads for the soul purpose of money, because he obviously doesn’t believe half the shit he says himself.
That Scarface track solidified my nigga legacy, Facemob is the Goat of the south, you cant end your career without a Bun B and a Scarface track.
What legacy?
Legacy is an advanced word, ask your parents what it means.
I already know what a legacy is and Ross doesn’t have it.
lets hope he ends his career soon, if not im sure his will stroke out or die from diabetes
Face is the truth but 8-Ball always been my fav.
I fucks with Rozay the long way, Im Black so I dont listen to Rap music to live a hood fantasy through a nigga lyrics like these suburbanites do I listen to my rap music to get hype and bob my head when Im in the ride.
The cool thing about rap music is that you can touch on any topic that you want and feel free to speak on anything as long as it rhymes which is why Slick Rick is my favorite rapper, he has the best imagination and the best stories.
I need the Deluxe link of anybody has one.
Copying-pasting old comments? Looks like BruthaDee is running out of creativity.
this is BS, no Ross fan would call SLick Rick Their fav rapper
Newsflash 99% of rap is fiction. They are playing a role for your entertainment. Just think of Ross as an actor. Not every nigga is a crack dealer or best friends with Noreaga. They aint out murdering niggas. Their cars and jewelry are almost always rented and they paying for pussy most of the time… especially the fatties like Ross and Khaled.
So are you trying to tell me that JayZ really didnt lose 92 Bricks? I thought all rap lyrics were based on actual events
Miami stand up!!
No.
Only reason Ross is hot cause of his beats and features…
You rarely see anyone complimenting his lyrics, you always hear the same shit like “he has a great ear for beats” or “this bumps in the whip”
Shit, hes not even as famous as people pretend, the man cant go platinum, cant make a billboard hit, cant sell out shows in a real venue, his artists cant even go gold (wale excluded thanks to rihanna). Hes gonna be irrelevant by the end of the year.
I’m getting the instrumental version of this album.
Same here
hell yeah that might be the only way I could get down with this Mastermind shit is instrumental. All you ever hear it about his ear for beats but he can’t do them no justice with his ducktales raps.
Im not even gonna give this shit a chance after hearing that watered down Biggie ripoff with French on the hook. Like cmon man, let than man rest in piece…. What kind of artist has to jack a dead mans song for an album?? Same kind of artist who jacks a living mans name and life I suppose.
Boss!! My boy built his empire from the ground up, and never had to go Platinum to get them millions.
He don’t know you. Stop talking about him like you’re both related.
I built it ground up you bought it renovated.
what kind of man builds an empire off another living mans name and another companys brand name? so corny.
You didn’t build shit. You just sat on the computer doing nothing.
“I built it ground up you bought it renovated.”
its funny cause the nigga just bought someones mansion that no one in ATL wanted and he didn’t build it ground up LOL.
All the millionaires and billionaires passed on his new crib because it was such a poor investment. Now hes gotta turn it into a youth shelter just to get a tax break so he can afford it.
“I built it ground up you bought it renovated.”
Labels are not easy to run, I think Luda could have done more as an exec with DTP, him and Chaka dropped the ball but recently I like what Wiz is doing hes a young mogul in the making if he can stay focused.
Wiz wont be making shit if the music’s not right and right now he’s lackin…. cant wait to hear that new miley record though.
Platinum is just a word it has very little meaning in this age like it did before illegal downloading it if it was really a concern to these rappers they would buy their own albums instead of buying mansions and cars.
This is something bums would say.
Meek Mill made a song called “Tupac Back,” when his boss was the nigga who would be checking “Tupacs Crack” before and after his visits at Dannemora/Clinton Correctional Facility
Khaled found a way to get Movado on Mastermind, already Pre Ordered mines.
hope you let your momma know you borrowed her Visa
It looks like it’s going to be a long night, I have a lot of haters to respond to while I sit in my apartment and drink by myself. If anyone wants to chat or has a leak to the Mastermind album send me a DM @BruthaDee and we can chat about these white skinned nerds who never leave the house.
P.S. If any hot chicks are that are into MMG out there I can send you some pics of my crotch or my struggle mustache selfies.
black nerd groupie alert
I just took another shot of Ciroc while your pale faced freakish ass sits in your cold dark basement eating a mayonnaise sandwich again.
These geek unit groupies have to get up early in the morning for school but I can sleep in and hit the studio whenever I please.
WE DON’T BELIEVE YOU, YOU NEED MORE PEOPLE
“CB4” is a profoundly confused movie, combining rap music with a satire of the world of rap. Working both sides of the street, it gets caught in traffic. The film stars Chris Rock and Phil Hartman from “Saturday Night Live,” but it doesn’t have SNLs smarts — and worse, it doesn’t have any sense of what’s funny. On a structural level, it’s incompetently written and directed.
The story involves three friends from the fictional California town of Locash (get it?), who dream of breaking out of their middle-class backgrounds and becoming rap stars. They get thrown out of the local rap club, run by a gangster named Gusto (Charlie Murphy). And then, trying to get back in Gusto’s good graces, they coincidentally turn up at the club at the same time as a swat team.
Gusto is busted as a cocaine dealer, and goes to prison. Then Rock has a brainstorm: He’ll assume Gusto’s identity, his friends (Allen Payne and Deezer D) will also pose as escaped cons, and they’ll name their rap group CB4, after Cell Block 4. Meanwhile, of course, the real Gusto vows revenge from prison. Also meanwhile, a local white politician (Hartman) goes after the anti-rap vote. It’s easy to imagine how this formula might work itself out, but the screenplay is so slapdash that nothing ever works itself out, and the movie doesn’t conclude, it terminates.
Along the way there is a lot of rap music, in bits and pieces (including an annoying low-level music track that plays during amost all conversations). There is also an embarrassing attempt to satirize rap. A rap promoter quizzes the guys: Do they use the word “ho” in their music? Call all women “bitches?” Grab their crotches? Adocate violence? Wave guns around? They do? Excellent! Watching this scene is like seeing an SNL skit that isn’t working.
There are scenes in the film that seem to criticize rap music for its violence, racism and sexism. Yet other scenes seem to celebrate or exploit the same qualities. The images of African-Americans in the movie are especially confused. Many of the women are indeed called “hos” and “bitches,” and the female lead, Khandi Alexander, spends much of the film in a push-up bra, either representing or satirizing negative images of black women. The movie’s attitude seems to be: If you’re smart enough to get the satire, it’s a joke, and if you’re not, here’s a sexy “bitch.”
The movie was directed by Tamra Davis, who has directed music videos for various rap groups. CB4 appears in videos in the course of the movie, but again the film is confused, and doesn’t know wether these videos are the real thing, or parody. The result is a compromise: Cliched examples of the real thing. Meanwhile, the plot limps and crawls toward a conclusion it will never reach.
Some of the blame for a film this bad must be laid at the feet of the producers, Brian Grazer and Nelson George. Grazer is a major producer (“Backdraft,” “Far and Away”) and George is a well-known journalist and screenwriter. They took Chris Rock’s original idea to Universal. But as producers, they didn’t do their jobs. They should never have allowed shooting to begin until a professional screenplay had been written and the vision and tone of the film was clear. This is the kind of movie that tries to shoot itself in the foot, and misses.
Is the Deluxe in CD format or just the ITunes version?
is ya mommas pussy just like ya grandmas pussy
They got a deluxe on ITunes and a Super Deluxe with the old cuts.
I heard ross may be giving his autobiography away. Its a story about how he became a gangster.
I like CDs Im old school with my collection.
Those listening sessions are hard as fuck to get into and they take your cellphone. The fucked up ones are invite only and its all industry snobs mixed in with a handful of artists. My Cousin thats a DJ went to Commons for Dreamer/Believer and met his wife on some LAHH ish. lol looked fun but I will wait for the leak and if its straight then ill get the hard copy.
Katt Williams said he is on one of the tracks.
Katt Williams also famously said “Rick Ross makes music for people that failed P.E.”
Ross is a sucka. Diddy be chillin with 50, Floyd and Rozays kids but they still cool. French videotaping Khaleds mom for 50 and they cool. Meek and Rockie talking shit on twitter about him and he gives them deals?
Katt is crazy I was watching his special a few days ago, that bit he did with Hustlin is classic.
William has no spine.
Only reason Ross is hot cause of his beats and features…
You rarely see anyone complimenting his lyrics, you always hear the same shit like “he has a great ear for beats” or “this bumps in the whip”
Everyone was talking about everyday im hustling. And ive seen everyone praise ross of his molly lyrics.
No, they weren’t. Everyone wasn’t talking about “everyday i’m hustling” and they criticized the molly lyrics.
hell yeah that might be the only way I could get down with this Mastermind shit is instrumental. All you ever hear it about his ear for beats but he can’t do them no justice with his ducktales raps.
Even thr beats suck these days. There the justice beats, the mike will beats, and what I like to call it the rack city beat. They all may be distinct from each other but especially for Djokovic mustard, the beats rebase over and over again.
Wow, so much hate just because of looks and actions. People hate wayne because he kissed his father which isnt even gay because its family but yet people want to bitch. They hate ross either because of his weight, his past, or that the I other rick ross was jacked.
Not sure if serious or retarded
People always find an excuse to hate other people, I heard one guy say he hated Khaled because Khaled was Arabian.
Yeah, this guy’s retarded.
Just saw Rozay on Fallon, it was a nice performance.
huge letdown. I guess Jay-Z was too busy for the little homie.
Ross is only HOt because he releases HOT music, if he was in a poetry contest with Talib Kweli he would lose people just like his hooks and his music and the mix of all those things together.
That must be why hes not hot anymore, not hot music
I give Rozay credit as a Hustler but if you seen those high school pictures he posted then you could tell the nigga was going to be famous some niggas just got that glow.
all he had to do was put his family in friends in danger and fake it till he made it
Some people have that “it” factor and some people don’t, I just wish Rozay would would give Iceberg some love, fuck Tracy T.
“All your mans fake, they give you pounds and handshakes
Cause they rhyme too, so y’all each other fanbase”
DJ KHALED AND RICK ROSS ARE NOT HIP HOP NOR MUSIC
i dont like the music but you cant say ross isnt music
these 2 are like dumb and dumber 2 cartoon characters
theres a reason why william was a struggling rapper for years before 2006.
Saw him on Fallon last night with the legendary Roots crew. It was disappointing because they did Devil Is A Lie and Jay-Z wasn’t there, and Jay-Z is the best part of that song.
They kept shouting out that Mastermind is the biggest album of the year… Until Wayne or Drake come out.
“I heard ross may be giving his autobiography away. Its a story about how he became a gangster.”
It’ll go like this; “I read about Freeway Ricky Ross and what he did, so I decided to create a persona based on his likeliness even though I never been on the streets my entire life.”
William and miley are the new snoop and kendrick, there as trill and real as it gets, anyone hating knows nothing about rap.
Loved the performance by Ross and the Roots last night, made me wish the Roots were on Arsenio so I could see them every night.
Bawse!
You cant have a Black band and a Blaxk host, you gots ta mix it up for the viewers but yep Questlove killed the drums and the Boss killed it.
Aressnios band sucks, I want to hear Mastermind before I cop it I don have money to waste of it isnt full of bangaz
just download it he has enough money already.
Yeeeeeeaaaaahhhh!!!! Them boys living that life! Get money my nigga do good wit ya people!
Watch the Khaled interview with Shaheem Reid, its a good listen.
“Just saw Rozay on Fallon, it was a nice performance.”
You see my nucca Duce Poppi on stage with Rozay? Florida up in that bish heavy as a Box Chevy.
I got a download link from Sharbee but its a clean version
my best friend’s ex-wife makes $75 an hour on the computer . She has been out of work for 9 months but last month her pay was $12505 just working on the computer for a few hours. see post>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> http://WWW.Works6.COM
y’all still believe khaled’s rants that conveniently pop up when some music is coming out from his camp? lol
his opinions hold no weight. he co-signs who ever he does business with
I need this album.
lOi @ Khaled cheesiness in that flick!