While rumors have popped up about his alleged involvement in a club brawl in New York City during All-Star Weekend, Rick Ross has announced a new partnership with Dina Marto’s Twelve Music Group, according to AllHipHop.

Together with Marto, who formerly worked with L.A. Reid and managed Def Jam’s Atlanta office, Ross is launching a new platform for musicians called Artists First and opening a Maybach Music Group office in Atlanta at Twelve Music Group studios.

“This is the new home for Maybach Music,” Marto said. “Their artists will be recording here. Executives will have offices here, so they can get work done while they’re in the city of Atlanta.”

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The MMG and Marto partnership will also seek out a new MMG artist as a part of a label-promoted talent search.

“We’re launching a talent search for the next MMG artist,” Ross said. “We gon’ do it big. We gon’ go through this Artist First platform.”

Explaining his history with Dina Marto, Ross addressed his original signing to Def Jam and Marto’s role in his career.

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“I was signed to Def Jam by Jay Z, and I was actually pulled out of Miami by a young man named Shakir Stewart—rest in peace,” Ross said during his announcement of the partnership. “Shakir was one of the dudes that I got closest to in this game. I’d be calling Shake in the middle of the night, and he’d cut his phone off… The next morning he’d say, ‘Rozay, if you can’t get my phone, hit Dina.’ Me seeing her out here grinding, doing her thing, I feel it’s only right that she know she got family here.”

For additional Rick Ross coverage, watch the following DX Daily:

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