Listening to any Rick Ross record requires an overwhelmingly prodigious imagination. It also requires an innate appreciation of harmless deception; it’s a lot like being an adult at a magic show: you know it’s not really magic, but there’s something wondrous about having your perception of reality challenged. Few dare to so blatantly test the murky waters of Rap surrealism. Ross, however, does so unabashedly, and he has been pulling the same rabbit out of the hat for the better part of a decade now. He has burrowed so deep inside his feigned illusions of grandeur that he has even grown enamored with his own mystique. As Rick Ross’ career grows long in the tooth, it’s becoming harder to bank on its prescience when its context is so marred by fiction, especially as its exposition proves to be less and less interesting. Rozay’s sixth studio album, Mastermind, once again explores his heavily dramatized excursions as a drug tycoon with great depth, but it reads more insincerely than ever and his imagination has seemingly reached its limit.
Mastermind functions illogically conceptually not just because its claims are groundless but also because it lacks solidarity. The overarching premise of any given Ross album usually gives way to his grand thesis while additionally carrying its own narrative. However, in this case, while Mastermind fits like a glove into the Ross canon it doesn’t preserve its own individual identity. There isn’t a lot of diabolical criminal enterprising taking place. Instead it is simply a hodgepodge of classic Ross tropes thrown into one and tagged with a title more fit for super-villainy. Even so, it would be much more bearable—and even relatively engaging—as a fictional retelling of mythic proportions if it simply sought a bigger climax.
Despite its flaws, 2012’s God Forgives, I Don’t was Ross at his most visionary: channeling a fictional, human-skinning serial killer, placing himself at the pinnacle of urban culture side-by-side with Rap moguls Jay Z and Dr. Dre, and venturing deep into the Roman numerals for a fourth installment of the “Maybach Music” series. His eyes were bigger than his stomach. He was thinking colossally; thinking it terms of astronomical achievement. Mastermind thinks on a much smaller scale. It focuses on the immediate future. This is its undoing: it shrinks back into familiarity and seeks neither to explain itself nor to grow. It peddles its coke narrative formulaically without ambitiously pursuing unheralded heights.
Perhaps the worst instance of Mastermind’s lack of aspiration is “What A Shame,” an electro organ-backed bore which incorporates an interpolation of Wu-Tang Clan’s “Shame On A Nigga” into its mechanics. “Full magazine bitch, shoot for the stars / Snatch a nigga chain just to post it on a blog,” he raps, sounding rather pleased with himself, as if he really didn’t just suggest hitting licks as a new form of click bait wasn’t a lame idea, and this is simply a microcosm of the entire album. On “In Vein,” The Weeknd shows just how diminutive and hollow Ross’ coke lord impression has become by essentially lapping him with his own exceptional drug rhetoric—“All my niggas ‘round me getting kickback pussy / All my niggas ‘round me all be hidin’ in Stussy … Tour bus like a National Geographic / Bitches runnin’ wild getting faded in the bathroom.” If your brand is grandiose Mafioso kingpin-style drug Rap then you’d better be pitching a sonic Rayful Edmond biopic on steroids. Ross fails to deliver that.
Mastermind simply lacks flair. It doesn’t possess the pizzazz of Teflon Don, which made Ross a power player or the pure gaudiness of Rich Forever, which perfected his aesthetic. Rick Ross has seemingly run out of moves. His imagery isn’t quite as awe-inspiring as say Kanye West’s, and this truth is magnified when the two egos are juxtaposed next to one another (“Sanctified”). While Kanye is transposing himself with Muhammad Ali and washing his sins in the blood of Jesus and boldly second guessing God’s direct message the most grandiose thing Ross can muster is an ill-fated (and perhaps uninformed) comparison to fallen Waco cult leader David Koresh. It feels tired and uninspired. In truth, it is a reflection of the entire album. Though Ross’ command of his booming bass voice is entertaining in spurts—when he starts packing words together under the influence of that heavy timbre, it’s like a snowball rolling downhill building momentum—nothing about Mastermind feels fresh or creative and without much semblance of truth, there is no magic. Its themes and motifs are generic to the Ross trademark.
There isn’t anything really compelling about Rick Ross’ fictional tale anymore. It has become stale. There is no real wiggle room for his kingpin fallacy. There’s only one angle of interest left to explore: the truth. “The truth will set you free, son. The truth will set you free,” executive producer Sean “Diddy” Combs shouts smugly on “Nothing,” assumedly at opposing rappers pretending to be something they’re not. How ironic. Ross could’ve used that kind of advice himself years ago. Perhaps he’ll take heed before the next mastering.
RELATED: Rick Ross “Mastermind” Release Date, Cover Art, Tracklist & Album Stream
OH DAMN THEY GONNA CALL THIS REVIEWER A WHITE NERD FOR THIS
“Mastermind functions illogically conceptually not just because its claims are groundless but…”
…becuase he said he met the REAL Noriega on his first album.
Its so beyond that. He’s been lying on every record his whole career. Rappers do lie but the one thing about Rick, he never ever breaks character. Rappers have at least at times put some of their real self in music. No one knows the real William. I think thats the biggest problem. Nothing in his music is personal. Its all a cocaine boss fantasy.
Yeah that’s exactly it. He’s afraid for people to really know who he is. And it also limits his growth because all he’ll be able to put out it is this dealer mood music.
2 good songs and the rest is…mah…
I hope Complex does one of those lists where they count up all the times he mentioned lemon pepper or Wing Stop.
Great Album !
Album has a lot of filler. The song with Kanye and Big Sean goes hard as fuck until that soul sample comes in.
It’s funny how he trying to remake all these classic 90’s records from BIG, ODB and even flipped that 93 til infinity sample… maybe he really is running out of ideas because those were mixtape tracks at best!
I predict the racist Ross stans will take offense to this album being given such a mediocre rating by someone named Sheldon!
trash.
Simply Amazing
I hate this fraud but I still gave it a 4 star rating ya BISH. Probably only a 3.5 though but I was generous.
smh at this
u motherfucker just sitting on internet and hating in your u never did anything better for other niggas , Rick ross for his talent he had helped many niggas out there nobody new about meek mill b4 , no one new about wale b4 , no body give a fuck about trace b4 and list goes , stop hating this album is dope and deserve credit u motherfucker when it comes to DEF JAM ALBUM REVIEW U ALWAYS HATE when it comes to INTERSCOPE and SHADY AFTERMATH ALBUM UR REVIEW ARE AMAZING , GIVING EMINEM 5 STAR ON THE GARBAGE ALBUM SOUND LIKE GAY MUSIC ROCK , FUCK YOU HYPOCRYITICAL BITCHES , HATE YA MOTHERFUCKER
“no body give a fuck about trace b4 ”
no body gives a fuck about Tracey T after either!!!
what hating? just because it doesn’t get 5 stars doesnt mean they hating you emotional turd!
you should proof read your shit before you post it though, that was a struggle to comprehend.
You* Knew* Before* Deserves* Hypocritical*
No one wants to know about Wale*
No one wants to know about Meek Mill*
No one wants to know about Trace*
The list does not “Go”*
Further proof that Ross is as dumb as his fans
“Listening to any Rick Ross record requires an overwhelmingly prodigious imagination”
they wasnt lying.
Listening to any Rick Ross record requires an overwhelmingly prodigious imagination. It also requires an innate appreciation of harmless deception; its a lot like being an adult at a magic show: you know its not really magic, but theres something wondrous about having your perception of reality challenged. Few dare to so blatantly test the murky waters of Rap surrealism. Ross, however, does so unabashedly, and he has been pulling the same rabbit out of the hat for the better part of a decade now. He has burrowed so deep inside his feigned illusions of grandeur that he has even grown enamored with his own mystique.
verry agressive impessive
There isnt anything really compelling about Rick Ross fictional tale anymore. It has become stale. There is no real wiggle room for his kingpin fallacy. Theres only one angle of interest left to explore: the truth. The truth will set you free, son. The truth will set you free, executive producer Sean Diddy Combs shouts smugly on Nothing, assumedly at opposing rappers pretending to be something theyre not. How ironic. Ross couldve used that kind of advice himself years ago. Perhaps hell take heed before the next mastering.
It deserves atleast 4 stars even thought it wasn’t as good as God Forgives, I Don’t.
3 stars?
SHELDON PEARCE YOUS A FUCKING GUMP
Seriously 3 stars for the best album he released that may even top Teflon Don?!!
Fucking idiots at HHDX
nigga yo momma shoulda called you shelley
why dont you make your own review, not everyone shares the same opinions about music dog. no need to get ya panties in a bunch!
Cuz yo momma is a whore.
SHELDON PEARCE is the defintion of a fuck nigga.
No wonder your website is losing grounds to other sites man.
Nigga you’s a gump,even yo momma knows you a bitch.
Nigga had the nerve to put that album at chief keef level nigga yo momma shoulda swallowed you.
and yo daddy a punk.
bitch.
Kanyetothe.com straight balling on you motherfuckers.
R.I.P. Hiphopdx
feelings were caught!!! LMAO
“R.I.P. Hiphopdx”
You think anyone is going to stop coming to this website because the new Rick Ross album only got a 3 star review? LMAO kids mad as hell calling names over a review!! HAH
Feelings was caught when I came in yo momma mouth all right.
Kanyetothe>>>hiphopdx.
why dont you go post some smileys over there with your boys and write your own review… for someone hating on this website you sure leaving a lot of comments!
Yo momma is a slooth too my nigga.
Kanyetothe balls
Metacritic got a 84/100 rating for mastermind, and this shelley gump think he can give him a 3 star?
nah fuck him and his dog mono.
Khaled lied and told us all this was a classic. SMH
Mastermind is TIRED. The best songs on there are
Sanctified
Black and White
Walkin on Air.
Not feeling the rest, ONE BIT.
This album is very close to a classic and may very well be over time and is by far his best album its a must have Ross just moved to the top of the rap game with this album
hiphopdx are straight hater go listen to drake you faggots
You know Rick Ross fans are dumb when they say “I know its not better than God Forgives I Don’t, but this deserves 4stars” … 1st off, God Forgives was a PIECE of shit lol sooo what does it make this?? 2nd its going to FLOP lol No singles, even NO GAMES is not on this lol 3rd who wants to listen to 20+ rick ross songs hahaha. Im done lol I’d rather bump Snoops new Mixtape. That classic LA Hip Hop. From a REAL G
the album has some really dope production….we all know ross is no lyrical monster but this album is dope.
DX will very rarely give a fair rating to mainstream albums, they are extremely biased to “underground boombap” rap
“Underground boombap” happens to sound 500 % better than this trash.
“”Underground boombap” happens to sound 500 % better than this trash.”
no it doesn’t. stop pretending you’re music experts just because you like that vintage crap. i used to listen to a lot of boom bap during the 90’s and of course it was great but now it’s often pointless and uninspired
album is whack
https://hiphopdx.com/index/album-reviews/id.1933/title.rick-ross-god-forgives-i-dont
The album is clearly better than that GFID bullshit yet you guys rate it lower than it?
Shelley pearce you’s a whore b. an ignorant whore go listen to your undeground rappers that no one gon be listening to anyways fucking weirdo.
write a few more comments calling names over an album review, let all your frustrations out LMAO
This is a dope album, FUCK HIPHOPDX AND LA TIMES
The only thing Ross ever had going for him is his ear for good beats and now even that seems to be fading
Straight fire sometimes he makes rubbish music but this album 100,
Thats my opinion Hiphop dx and some bullshit with these rates
Lol at the pretentious author that thinks using big and uncommon words will make his review more prestigious. It’s hiphopdx, buddy, not a newspaper out of England.
LOL at the ghetto dork who thinks big words make something prestigious or like a newspaper from england
“SHELDON PEARCE is the defintion of a fuck nigga.
No wonder your website is losing grounds to other sites man.
Nigga you’s a gump,even yo momma knows you a bitch.
Nigga had the nerve to put that album at chief keef level nigga yo momma shoulda swallowed you.
and yo daddy a punk.
bitch.
Kanyetothe.com straight balling on you motherfuckers.
R.I.P. Hiphopdx”
Sheldon Pearce is not a “Nigga” he is as white as snow, you can tell by the theme he took with the article.
yes everyone who doesn’t give this a 5 star classic rating is surely a white faced geek virgin
“Don’t support the phonies, support the real, you know what I mean? How can these people be talkin about how they so real and they don’t care about our communities? How can they be talkin about how they’re all this you know the hood and blah blah they don’t care about the communities? You know what I mean? Listen to the words they have in their lyrics and tell me is that some real shit and if that’s real shit to you,you know what I mean? Listen to what they’re saying to you don’t just bob your head to the beat peep the game and listen to what I’m saying & hold us accountable for it”
I gotta keep it real. This album is really only good because of them beats.
THE ALBUM IS SO DOPE NOW I AM ENJOYING IN MY OLD BOX CHEVY WITH MA NIGGA LORD EYEZ HERE , HALLA MA NIGGA ROZAY FOR THIS
LOL, where do these white people get this “kingpin” stuff, LOL, who talks like that, I mean why cant they just say hustler or D-boy.
he call himself the biggest boss
“Perhaps the worst instance of Masterminds lack of aspiration is What A Shame, an electro organ-backed bore which incorporates an interpolation of Wu-Tang Clans Shame On A Nigga into its mechanics. Full magazine bitch, shoot for the stars / Snatch a nigga chain just to post it on a blog, he raps, sounding rather pleased with himself, as if he really didnt just suggest hitting licks as a new form of click bait wasnt a lame idea, and this is simply a microcosm of the entire album”
^^^^ This idiot is too stupid to listen to rap music, he should stick to Heavy Metal and Grunge.
The chain snatch line was directed at the people who do that shit you dumb blonde, and that is simply a microcosm of your review.
“This idiot is too stupid to listen to rap music, he should stick to Heavy Metal and Grunge”
LMAO these insults directed at the reviewer for not sharing your opinion on the album are too funny!!!
Exactly man.
this gump is a fucking tool
who the fuck they hiring at DX?
fuck you shelley!
The review is wack because 95% of it is about everything but the music.
Thats how a lot of reviews are though.
im not a ross fan. havent heard the album & dont plan to. i just read the review because i enjoy reading articles and i was interested in your take. im assuming you kept using terms like fictional, deception, & imagination to appease your audience. RAPPERS lie. not just Ross, all of them. and if they not lying then they’re not very successful. 50 WAS the exception. he’s successful financially but his music career is no where near what it use to be. just an observation
Sure rappers do lie but the one thing about Rick, he never ever breaks character. Rappers have at least at times put some of their real self in music. No one knows the real William. I think thats the biggest problem. Nothing in his music is personal. Its all a cocaine boss fantasy.
The dude that wrote the article looks like Rush Limbaugh, he seems like the type of dude that wants to believes what he hears in rap records. lol
Its just fun music to party to, I dot want to “get to know” these rappers No Homo, I just want some beats and rhymes not an education or a bibliography.
“The dude that wrote the article looks like Rush Limbaugh, he seems like the type of dude that wants to believes what he hears in rap records. lol”
How do you know what he looks like? Did you google him to check out his appearance to see if he was hip-hop enough for you?
THIS ALBUM IS A JOKE JUST LIKE HIS FRAUDUENT DRUG STORIES AND HIS FRAUDLENT LIFE AS A DRUG LORD/KINGPIN!!!! WILLIAM ROBERTS IS A COLLEGE GRADUATE AND A FORMER CORRECTIONS OFFICER!!!! HE DECIDED TO TRY RAP BUT WATCHING SCARFACE AND OTHER GANGSTA MOVIES ONE TOO MANY TIMES, MADE HIM THINK HE WAS DRUG DEALER!!!! SO HE STOLE A REAL DRUG DEALER’S NAME AND USED IT FOR HIS STAGE NAME!!!! AND THE REST OF THE FRAUDELNCE WE ALL KNOW IS HISTORY!!!!
…….HA!!!! WE DON’T BELIEVE YOU OFFICER RICKY!!!!
DON’T HATE ON MY OPINION!!!!
FUCK YOU ASSHOLE
Then tell me who is real?
ice cube fake gangster
dr dre fake gangster
ice t fake pimp
etc.
but they were true to themselves and kept it real with the fans. they didnt just brag about their wealth and criminal exploits on every single record.
Production on point. Ross ain’t no lyrical monster.. devil is a lie beat is bananas. been wit ross since port of miami tho.
this album is decent at best 2 stars
Wasn’t feeling it.
God Forgives I I don’t was a great album. Ross improves every album. Stop taking him so literal when he talks about drugs. Do I believe he sold a crack rock before, yes. You got b*tches out here doing it. Does he glorify stories larger than what the are, yes. What’s the problem. He talk about wingstop like they best thing out…point is, quit getting mad when he say the real Noreaga owe him 100 favors. That’s just a lyric. It’s not serious.
Theres only so long fake thugs can pretend though. I’m kind of bored with it all. Would love to hear something different from him.
@Brandon Feds be on these blogs trying pretending to be Rap fans and trying to convince fans to get rappers to put actual illegal activities in their songs so they can put them in prison like Boosie.
^^ yeah right, keep smoking them rocks bruh
I’m so insecure about my music tastes that I’m going to keep posting insulting comments about the reviewer and assume he’s a white geek who listened to heavy metal and grunge in the hopes that all my butt hurt comments will make him reconsider his review and crown this album the classic 5/5 star status is so deserves! You white devil!
Him being white isn’t an issue, you pedophile.
Him being an idiot when it comes to reviews is.
Fuck you and shelley.
Not a Rick ross fan but do not all rappers repeat themselves:
– 50 cent always guntalk
– jayz always money talk
– young jeezy always coke talk
– clipse always coke talk
– raekwon always coke talk
etc.
Face it rap music is done and only dumb people listen to records about killing and robbing people. Rap is nothing more then negativity nowadays. Wew gotta get rid of these bullshit artists and make way for talented artist who have something to say
Face it
Not a Ross fan, but this was dope as fuck.
If you weren’t a Ross fan before this album, then that means you clearly haven’t REALLY been listening to his previous material. There is nothing on this album that is innovative or that Ross hasn’t done before. I copped the album simply because he has good songs on ALL his albums, but there are enough mediocre songs on ALL Ross albums to prevent him from ever creating a true “Classic”.
There’s nothing that relates to black struggle with his excessive kingpin lifestyle raps on this album. I’m not sure you know what struggle means because there’s literally nothing about this album that relates to struggle at all.
Having 92 million in a checking account to being on his 4th bentley, He seen 36 at 16, black bottles, elevators like frank on scarface, buying meek range rovers, Wingstop lemon pepper wings, ghosts, ferraris, bentleys with tints. He may actually mention a different whip on every song. It’s basically his rap success mixed with extravagant drug dealer lies and fantasies
The closest thing to the struggle was him mentioning half a bar about the attempt on his life on Mafia Music 3 and them threatening venues….but immediately after that he’s popping black bottles and 10 car garages.
If you thought the lyrics on this album were POWERFUL then I really gotta question your state of mind.
I think many of you young nikkas worship money so an album full of raps talking about shyt like this may come off inspiring to you guys……..I get it. To say this shyt is powerful is absurd tho. It’s funny, Puff’s rant at the end of Nobody said the Truth Will Set you Free, tell the truth……….meanwhile there’s tons of lies everywhere on this album one of the more ridiculous being….”17 I was chargin’ nikkas 17 Ridin’ clean, youngest nikka in the Medelln” and his net worth (you could hear him change his net worth multiple times on God Forgives I Don’t) but carry on.
“Puff’s rant at the end of Nobody said the Truth Will Set you Free, tell the truth”
That was the most ironic moment on this album to me.
All William’s music is the same. Big powerful production some big name features with a catchy flow and the most ridiculous over the top lies i’ve ever heard. Downloaded it then put this album straight in the recycle bin.
Poorly written article, he only gave feedback on two songs and misquoted the lyrics.
The Review on AHH wasWwritten more from a HipHop perspective.
how was it not written from a hiphop perspective?
The Review on AHH discussed the music on the album and the songs, their Review focused primarily on the music and not their personal opinion about the artist outside of music.
they are intertwined though
SAME SHIT DIFFERENT DAY
Lying all time is some female shit whether you make good music or not and especially when you claim to be so “real”.
A lie is a deliberate fabrication and distortion of the truth. William Roberts is the antithesis of music based not only upon his inability to create real, significant art, but his absolutely fraudulent real life character. He possesses neither integrity nor honor.
Dope album, the fans seem to love it.
To me Ross has nothing that makes him stand out, he’s not original but he isn’t even good at the material he’s rehashing.
It’s literally brainless club beats, there is nothing else redeeming about his music. he’s truly an entertainer and not an artist, a pathetic creation by corporations to make money because they know they will sell him ignorant morons.
while he may be right about the subpar offering of the album,he seems(as most hip hop cats are) to live under this false notion that what rappers say is true..you take EVERYTHING with a grain of salt,its all art,its all show.If youve sold an ounce of weed you can call yourself a drug dealer.Why discredit Ross for doing what ALL rappers do,lie to kick it.Hes rich off those lies…isnt that the american dream?
I think children and people from privileged backgrounds think that rap lyrics are confessions instead of street poetry. They believe that Eminem is a murderer.
LMAO @ Ross being street poetry.
LOL, yes child street poems, rhymes, whatever you want to call the act of putting words that rhyme together.
rhyming randon words and talking about your money and lemon pepper wings is not poetry and he doesn’t rep the streets.
Dont like it then don’t listen, it’s not for you.
everyone hating on this album is just one of those fags who says “ALL MAINSTREAM HIP HOP SUCKS”
Fuck that, my playlist got Rick Ross and RA the Rugged Man, Lil Wayne and Atmosphere. Good music is good music regardless
Fantastic album, fuck the haters
wow…3/5? more like 5/5
more like 3.5 or 4/5
its not perfect
Perhaps Rick Ross simply took his drug-lord act as far as it could go with 2012’s “God Forgives, I Don’t,” in which the portly Miami rapper somehow made a seizure he’d suffered on a private jet sound like the mark of a true player. But for the first time in a career that’s gotten only more interesting since his background as a corrections officer was revealed, Ross has run out of imaginative ways to describe his power on his latest.
“Before the crib you gotta clear the guard’s gate,” he brags of his home in “Rich Is Gangsta,” “Elevators like Frank’s on ‘Scarface.'” Snooze.
He’s helped by collaborators such as the Weeknd, who gives “In Vein” a queasy menace, and Jay Z, who boosts the swagger in “The Devil Is a Lie.” And Kanye West’s trippy, gospel-fied production in “Sanctified” is its own reward. (Ditto West’s guest verse, in which he tries out a wonderful new pronunciation of “handkerchief.”) As “Mastermind’s” mastermind, though, Ross seems on auto-pilot here.
Rick Ross
“Mastermind”
Def Jam
1 1/2 stars
Rick Ross was never as close to The Notorious B.I.G. in terms of physical appearance and artistic prowess as when he dropped Teflon Don in 2010. Despite the fact that Ross prefers lemon pepper wings to cheese, eggs, and Welchs grape, Teflon Don was a long kiss goodnight to the many detractors Ross had garnered from his super-ugly-style beef with 50 Cent and being ousted as a former law enforcement officer. But defying the odds of math, science, religion, philosophy, etc., Ross lost his hunger with God Forgives, I Dont. Maybe God forgave Rozay for the savage treachery of his last album, but the fans surely didnt, and with good reason. The album reeked of an artist cooking up the same recipe with only this time with stale ingredients, such as chopping up Diced Pineapples in an obvious effort to bake another Ashton Martin Music.
[TAKE A LISTEN:Rick Ross Mastermind Now Available ForStreaming]
But I have some delicious news: Wingstop is short on inventory, because Ross is hungry once again with his latest dish, Mastermind. Ross cooks early on the album, commencing things with two banger appetizers in the form of Rich As Gangsta and Drug Dealers Dream. Beat selection is never a problem with Ross, as he picks his instrumentals with the same keen insight as he scopes out his next Golden Corrall helping, but on Mastermind the level of lyricism is back on par. Ross even dares to remake Frank Whites classic Youre Nobody Til Somebody Kills You, doing his best rendition of Biggies flow on Nobody. Surprisingly, one of the worst songs of the album is Ross collaboration with Jay, The Devil Is A Lie. Lord knows, Lord knows Hov and the fat jake man were fresh out of Advil after cutting FuckwithmeyouknowIgotit in the studio that night.
Navigating the way through a few unnecessary skits and mediocre tracks, there is some serious heat on Mastermind, and Ross saves the best courses for the latter half of the album. Featuring Kanye West and Big Sean, Sanctified has a strong case for an early song of the year nomination. Also, after finally deading a pointless beef, the collaboration with Young Jeezy (War Ready) is filling despite lofty expectations. And while Thug Cry featuring Lil Wayne seemingly has all the fixings for a bland disaster weve been spoon-fed dozens of times, the track is absolute flames, containing outstanding lyrical performances from both heavyweights over, you guessed it, and hot ass beat.
[ALSO READ:Rick Ross Releases Statement On Trayvon Lyric OnMastermind]
Ross collab with The Weekend (In Vein) will inevitably be coming to a club near you probably before this review sees the light of day, but in comparison to microwavable popcorn efforts like Touchn You, the track is about Ross weight multiplied by 100 on the quality scale. Blessing In Disguise, featuring Scarface and Z-Ro is one of those tracks where massive hype is inevitably attached before the play button is hit, but surprisingly, Ross keeps things kosher. Although Ross will never reach Biggie status, Mastermind is a refreshing indication that the rapper still has a sweet tooth for quality music, and despite all speculation, is not in fact one lemon pepper wing over the line.
AHHs Ratings
Lyricism 8/10
Production 10/10
Album Cohesiveness 7/10
Replay value 9/10
Overall 8/10
Personal Favorite Tracks: Sanctified, Thug Cry, Blessing In Disguise,War Ready, Rich As Gangsta
FUCK YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU, MMG PROMOTIONS!!!!
DON’T HATE ON MY OPINION!!!!
8/10 for Rozay’s lyrics? LMAO and they’re trying to hate on the HHDX review? HAHAHAHAHAHA
Ross is Done….
trash
ross is a fucking fraud
“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.
Wtf is hhdx smoking. This album is the best hip hop album in the last 2 years. Rozay just dropped a classic but I see dx tryin to ride the wave of hate just like all these niggas on this site. doest matter Rozay still be gettin his money and doing tours and in 10 years this album will be seen as a motherfuckin classic.
Bawse!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Its not better than GKMC
Rick Ross “Mastermind” Review | Complex
Think of Rick Ross’ catalogue as a resounding march from Port of Miami to “B.M.F.,” the 808s popping deeper at each successive turn. A progression from the screwed hooks and beachside conspiracy bluffs of Ross’ debut to black-glove mafia menace, all culminating in his last studio album, God Forgives, I Don’t, an obese symphony including all possible instruments, features, ad libs, boastsmaking for a sometimes indigestible buffet.
Thankfully, Mastermind loosens the belt a few notches.
In the sense that 2009’s Deeper Than Rap marked Ross shift into cinematic, charismatic storytelling, and widescreen appeal as a persona, Mastermind is Deepers rightful sequel. From jacking the synth flood of Brian De Palma’s Tony Montana soundtrack to launching its first act through alternating Caribbean sunshine and .38 caliber hail. Traces of Trick Daddy and Young Jeezy lingerthe former’s influence most clearly pronounced on Mastermind’s first single, “The Devil is a Lie.” Yet all Ross flows converge in tribute to Bad Boy’s new jack soul and Drake’s reconciliation of banging beats with R&B deceleration.
Like all of Ross’ albums, Mastermind is expansively gorgeousa scenic blend of curbside taunts, felonious overreactions, groupie shout-outs, and orgasmic braggadocio. It’s cohesive without being concept. Its soundscape is dynamic without being as scattershot as God Forgives. Where that record crowded Ross out of his own projectthe beats were too atypical and the features too plentifulMastermind brings a somewhat more understated rosterif you call Puffy and French Montana and Kanye West and Big Sean and Lil Wayne and Jeezy and The Weeknd and Mavado and Sizzla understated.
Diddy and French tag-team throughout as Mastermind’s consiglieres, with Montana blues-crooning the hook to “Nobody” and lending his favorite ad lib and new money cliches to “What A Shame.” As Mastermind’s final gueston “Thug Cry,” the outro till infinityLil Wayne flips his most sober verse since the Bush administration. Jeezy outdoes both himself and Ross on “War Ready”not that Ross seems to notice or mind as he cackles. Even the project’s most gratuitous featureBig Sean’s eight bars of just-happy-to-be-herebolsters Kanye’s heathen-gospel contribution, in which Yeezus waxes raspy as Shyne.
With Ross the past always rings present. Whether he’s spitting his bounciest Weezy impression over the purple Prowler brood of “BLK & WHT,” or answering Puffy’s Vicodin-deprived rants with a Biggie memorial flow on “Nobody,” the influences are clear. Scott Storch, Puffy, Kanye, and Bink!all doing their best to approximate the fun of a Mannie Fresh sessionoverwhelm the dynamite booms and trap claps favored on so many MMG projects. “The Devil Is A Lie,” featuring Jay Z, and “War Ready” rank as Mastermind’s biggest, most lethal beats, bookended by blues and reggae relief. The levity of a pyretic Puffy and a faded Katt Williams rounds out Mastermind’s comprehensive leisure, concluding with somber Acknowledgments from our grateful host.
Hand him the Oscar, already.
As the curtains fall, Ross’ fantastical resiliencewoven from equal parts truth and absurdityseems justified, earned. Hand him the Oscar, already. Consciously or not, the Mastermind has positioned himself as both Drake’s older, wiser brother, and Kanye’s sober cousin. Thats ambition without the galactic grandiosity of God Forgives.
At Rick Ross’ zenithembodied by 2010’s Teflon Donhe thrived by obliterating beats that thumped too heavily for his skinny contemporaries, on the one hand; and by jet-skiing over piano riffs on the otherhis lighter, more recreational tracks. Here he’s dialed down the symphonic onslaught of his later efforts, opting for island bass strums on “Mafia Music III” and the marching brass segno of “Rich Is Gangsta.” It’s a graceful balance from an artist who, in recent years, could easily be accused of trying too hard, doing too much.
All of which goes to say, if you love Deeper Than Rap, then you’ll fuck with this. For all of his cheeky experimentation with flows here, Ross Mastermind features minimal innovation of the formula that he patented five years ago. This album isn’t growth, exactly, so much as a feat of pure persistence. Ross appropriates Kanye’s funk and YMCMB’s pop hypnotics without meaning to become them. And so, true to the album’s artwork, Mastermind is a graffiti portrait of the artist as a grown-ass multi-millionaire.
Good review, sounds like a brother wrote that one because he got specific with the sounds, he mentioned the R&B, Soul, Gospel, a Blues and Reggea on the album and mentioned all the features and spoke on about 9-10 of the songs.
but I thought Complex was evil hipsters for hating on Wale
Reviews are different based on who the reviewer is, we have to understand that these are not staff reviews they are just one persons opinion and some people have biased opinions based on their musical tastes or personal feelings towards the artist
“Good review, sounds like a brother wrote that one”
STOP TRYING TO IDENTIFY SKIN COLOR BASED ON GOOD OR BAD REVIEWS FROM A ROSS ALBUM YOU GEEK!
GOOGLE HIS NAME AND YOU MIGHT BE DISAPPOINTED!
The brother who wrote the Complex review is a Black man….DUH, pretty obvious based on how he identified all the musical elements, Bruh talking about piano riffs and Island bass drums he really listened to the music.
if he’s black he’s extremely light skinned but he did not look very black to me.
Knew it was a nigga when he mentioned Funk music.
Looks latino/white to me but he could be light skinned
Ross ruined a few of these hooks he should leave that shit for someone else. BLK & WHT and Devil is a Lie will get no replay from me because if his shitty attempts at what kind of sounded like singing!
And hiphopdx got no credibility. This is a hip hop website and niggas reviewing the album on up on another niggas personal life. bias review.
yet you stay on here commenting on a website with no credibility? LMAO
Bruh, you’re a Rick Ross groupie, YOU HAVE NO CREDIBILITY!
Beat selection is never a problem with Ross, as he picks his instrumentals with the same keen insight as he scopes out his next Golden Corrall helping
If it wasnt for that Trayvon lyric I would want Rozay to do better for Rap as a whole and cuz I fucked w/ Ricky even after all the BS but fuck this c00n ass nigga. The excuse for that Trayvon bar is way too much of a reach and any respectable Emcee woulda deaded that bar asap. Whether he wanted controversy and felt like he could get a little extra album sales with that wack ass bar or he actually thought it was dope, Im officially done with this nigga.
Crazy to see people defend a man who is on record lying about his past. Authenticity in Hip-Hop is important. Who really is Rick Ross? 6 solo albums, a triple C’s group album and 3 compilations later,no one still knows.
Crazy to see people attack a man for a mistake but forgive Eminem for his racist rap songs.
If Authenticity was so important you wouldnt have a Dr Dre and without Dr Dre you wouldn’t have your Emienem.
“Crazy to see people attack a man for a mistake but forgive Eminem for his racist rap songs. ”
You say that like you know for a fact the same people forgave Em but are chastising Ross… Like how tha fuck do you know the same people ain’t still mad about Em?
Myself personally I don’t care about EM, don’t listen to his new shit and could give a rats ass about those racist tapes. It’s obvious he isn’t and was not a racist as most of his friends are black.
Officer Ricky changed his net worth about 5 different times through the album. He clearly just tries to think and say the most outrages things but then forgets whats his already said. This may appeal to simple minded young teenagers but to an adult its very corny and very childish and quite sad when you look at whats now accepted in hip hop.
I urge people not to financially support this nonsense or it will just keep getting worse and worse.
Rozay lies are the dopest he said he was worth 92 million at the beginning of Mastermind and then by track 8 he down to 70 million
Yeah its pretty impossible for a Millionairs Net worth to change due to their investments, spending, endorsement deals, stocks and what not this is a concept that he be foreign to simple minded teenagers who are sad, corny, and so childish they are fixated on rap lyrics about a Net Worth.
LMAO dont take shit so serious. his networth is like 28 million so its all lies anyway
One of the most biased reviews I’ve ever read. And I’m NOT a Ross fan.. Pathetic piece of writing. This reviewer may have a great career with The Source.
0/5 TRASSSSSHHHHHHHHH
the album is a 4.5, watch all the Hipster blogs give it low ratings and all the HipHop blogs give it high rankings.
so now HHDX is a hipster blog because they don’t feel the same way about the album as everyone else?
The guy that reviewed the album is a hipster himself, just look at the Top right on this page and look at the top reviews of indie/underground rappers you probably never heard of. I like reviews were the reviewer gives you details about the songs and the music instead of 4 paragraphs about how you personally feel about the rapper himself.
i love to bitch and complain on the internet about shit that doesn’t affect my life
even though complex may be funny with their lists they are a way better reviewing site than HHDX.
shelly you a hoe.
Kanyetothe>hiphodx.
fucking gumps.
KTT MOTHAFUCKA
you’re still here complaining about HHDX?
Who here is surprised?
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,
“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,”
That platinum plaque for “Bugatti” will keep Ross famous enough to be on that Forbes list, no need to go platinum when 99% of the rappers from 2006-2014 don’t go platinum either, LOL kid said “real venue”.
real venue as in an arena or stadium, not the lil theaters he cant even sell out!
Bugatti is not his song! He never made the top 20 on forbes list last year so who knows if he will this year! Mac Miller making as much paper as the biggest boss currently!
Anonymous-1
he is happy and releasing music.
If you weren’t a Ross fan before this album, then that means you clearly haven’t REALLY been listening to his previous material. There is nothing on this album that is innovative or that Ross hasn’t done before. I copped the album simply because he has good songs on ALL his albums, but there are enough mediocre songs on ALL Ross albums to prevent him from ever creating a true “Classic”. Oxymoron and CyHi’s new joint will get more spins that this, but it has a few dope tracks. 3/5
Ross needs to retire.
Look at the Top right I gave it a solid 4 but I like street rap so I may be biased.
The reviewer of this goes on about Ross’ fiction as if he truly, TRULY knows this guy. If we’re basing reviews off of what is real…90% of rappers would get terrible reviews. Just listen to the music and stop worrying about what is real and fake. I say review the music and stop putting your personal feelings into it.
@SmokeJ
Some people are from very sheltered backgrounds and they believe that your rhymes are supposed to be 100% reality instead of just rhymes which is why Eminem lost so many fans after people found out he was a serial killer.
nigga stop bringing up Eminem, we get it, you hate em and love Rick Ross. one if faker than the other.
The white guy called him the N word.
nigga nigga nigga,
Wack review, he only talks about three songs like he didn’t even listen to the whole CD.
maybe the cd was so boring nothing stood out
Every Ross album since Port of Miami has been better than the last. This one’s a step back for me
yall soft niccas didn’t need to come in savin a nicca… in all reality it come down to William not bein comfortable with himself. The lies are only a projection of a society that wants all the glory but doesn’t wanna put in any of the work.
nicca is a sucka and anyone who validates him didn’t have a father figure or is uncomfortable around real niccas.
When you try too hard your gimmick sounds too silly and ruins your alias.
captain save a cop to the rescue!
7:45 8:30 P.M.
Last night, New York Citys, Best Buy Theater served host to Rick Ross Mastermind album release concert. Upon entry, a bevy of Top Flight security guards greeted guests with, Have your own damn tickets out before you get on line! Well, RICKY MUST HAVE REMAINED CONNECTED TO SOME OF HIS FORMER CO-WORKERS.
While descending a plethora of stairs I was again thankful I chose to wear my reliable and always comfy all-black Chucks. Overhead, several substantial crystal chandeliers gave the theater its overt lighting. The V.I.P..s segregated themselves to two different areas; balcony seating was reserved for these cognizant of the personal importance, as was a section of the conventional cushioned theater seats.
The feuds are over! Tracks by both Jeezy and 50 Cent were played. The pre-show cacophony of sound was mixed with assorted Hip-Hop, anxious conversation from The Boss supporters, and fruitless haranguing from the desperate security anxious for action. Proclaiming, No smoking!, suspected Green connoisseurs were readily assaulted with an intense flashlights glare.
8:30 10 P.M.
At 8:30 P.M. all lights were abruptly shut off. Momentarily engulfed by darkness a hush silenced the crowd. The stage instantly illuminated with Hot 97s, DJ Enuff. French Montanas Ocho Cinco, shattered the silence. The crowd was definitely on one! Playing to the home crowd, a medley of New York nostalgia followed. Biggie, Pac, The Infamous Mobbs Shook Ones, and even Nas Oochie Wally cranked up the collective excitement. The knob was nearly broken.
Though armed with impressive scratching, DJ Enuffs previous promises of an unrevealed Rick Ross annoyed the crowd. Around 10 P.M. the stage was still sans Ross. A lackluster chorus of boos echoed growing contention and disappointment.
10:15 11:15 P.M.
Accompanied by 1500 or Nothins band and DJ Sam Sneed, The Teflon Don, finally took the stage. A Maybach Music intro was reiterated to signify his presence. B.M.F., Im Not A Star, and Im A Boss erased any angst regarding the prolonged wait.
Snippets of the 2013 hit F*ckWithMeYouKnowIGotIt, and The Devil Is A Lie, were both performed without Jay Z. An abbreviated Blk & White was performed before Atlantas, Tracy T graced the stage to assist with War Ready. Too bad Jeezy was not in attendance to complete the track.
A special homage to Brooklyn, NY was paid throughout the shows duration. Daring to remake the classic Notorious B.I.G., Youre Nobody (Til Somebody Kills You) Ross rendition Nobody features both Diddy and French Montana. The Coke-Boy himself presence heightened Nobodys delivery. Many of the nights rappers relied on the security of a backing track; this was only awkward when the live spitting did not synch with the prerecorded track.
Though only performing one song, The LOX snatched the stage when performing the classic, Money, Power, Respect. This was the absolute highlight of the show; everyone was on their feet! Emboldened by the tangible energy, Rick Ross, time-travelled to 06 with Hustlin followed by his verse from On One, plus a preview of In Vein which is bolstered by The Weeknds voice. Taking a moment to honor the Creator, Sanctified briefly graced the crowd.
Strip club anthem, Dont Stop was interrupted by DJ Khaled who insisted on an Instagram break. French Montana, DJ Khaled, and Rick Rose posed amid the blinding flashes for the Instagram memory. Armed with confidence Tracy T again took the stage sharing Champagne and 16 to a stoic New York reception.
Fat Trels Shhh and She Fell In Love reinvigorated the crowd. Introduced by Khaled, Busta Rhymes, used his credible cadence to deliver the classic, Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See. Perhaps the concerts most awe-inspiring moment was when Busta proclaimed, Ross Ross, hands-down, is one of my favorite MCs of all time. This revelation elicited a secure-man hug from The Boss and the former Leader of The New School.
For reasons unknown, in true DJ Khaled fashion, the DJ shouted to Ross supporters to buy all three versions of Mastermind. Kanye shrugs and a collective f*ckhesaid emanated from the crowd. I was grateful to have been seated during the concert. It definitely killed a mundane Monday evening.
“Upon entry, a bevy of Top Flight security guards greeted guests with, Have your own damn tickets out before you get on line! Well, RICKY MUST HAVE REMAINED CONNECTED TO SOME OF HIS FORMER CO-WORKERS.”
THIS SHIT KILLS ME, even AllHipHip can’t help but take shots! Ross is still the biggest joke in rap, dope music or not!
Lazy and biased review, the best reviews are the ones were the reviewer reviews each song on an album, this guy is talking about rozayinstead of the album and I fee
Incredible work. He is the only boss.
the only boss who makes as much as mac miller LMAO
the 31 user reviews are pretty accurate to what HHDX said I don’t see why niccas getting they pantys all twisted.
But when nearly half of the ratings are perfect 5’s you know that’s bullshit.
5’s from the fanatics and probably 1’s from the haters
i gave it a 4 for a solid effort even though i will probably never listen to the whole album again
Beats %100..he should’ve recorded a few more times tho.. He’s kinda too slow on some parts
* Endless references to lemon pepper Wingstop
* 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
Ayo, Diddy said “The truth will set you free” on an album full of lies released by fakest rapper in all of hip-hop history!!!! Im dying here.
Troll boy is working in overdrive today, he must have forgotten to take his Meds.
this nigga is hella lonely, someone chat with him about how great this album is while he eats his noodles with his long fingernails in his hooptie
This is across best album IMO I thought GFID was too radio.
What kind of review is this?
A lot of big words but not much detail on the music, the review from Complex gets into the music.
Looks like the Ross fanboys caught feelings. Nothing but truth was said in this review.
This album is average as fuck, always talking about how he is a drug dealings how he is a capo.
If Ross died today or tomorrow his legacy is a nicca that could pick beats and that he could out right lie and niccaz still bump his music.
Giving this a 3.0 and Q a 3.5 when they should both be in the 4.5 at least show how HHDX is run by fucking gumps.
Shelley yo momma a hoe
http://www.kanyetothe.com bitch.
whats this like your 15th comment about how this website is run by Gumps? yet you’re still here? LMAO
This isnt a major HipHop website like AHH, this site is more Indie and underground.
AHH is run by illiterate retards
This is a major hip-hop website.
Great album front to back. Fun listen with no bad tracks. I don’t understand why the critics aren’t liking it?
I think HHDX doesn’t like Ross. I thought it was a good album. Unlike GFID there aren’t any tracks that I’ve skipped on four listens. Sonically, it reminds me of The Blueprint. It’s a 4-4.5.
Good jokes.
I thought the album was dope, but they should have put the Scarface and ZRo song on the standard version.
Weak.
I was wondering how long it was gonna take for RR to mention that fake shooting.. took not even 1track lmaoo
I just cant ride with ross no matter what he says I know hes a fake fraud rapper and ill never get behind someone like him let alone spend my money for his album idc how good it is.
they gonna call you a child or a white person for caring about authenticity in rap
they might even bring up eminem rapping about killing people! LOLOLOL
Talking to itself.
sup Troll GUy?
idc i am white tho.. if a black person calls me out on not liking a fake rapper..says more about them than me..
Rick Ross “Mastermind” Review | Complex
Think of Rick Ross’ catalogue as a resounding march from Port of Miami to “B.M.F.,” the 808s popping deeper at each successive turn. A progression from the screwed hooks and beachside conspiracy bluffs of Ross’ debut to black-glove mafia menace, all culminating in his last studio album, God Forgives, I Don’t, an obese symphony including all possible instruments, features, ad libs, boastsmaking for a sometimes indigestible buffet.
Thankfully, Mastermind loosens the belt a few notches.
In the sense that 2009’s Deeper Than Rap marked Ross shift into cinematic, charismatic storytelling, and widescreen appeal as a persona, Mastermind is Deepers rightful sequel. From jacking the synth flood of Brian De Palma’s Tony Montana soundtrack to launching its first act through alternating Caribbean sunshine and .38 caliber hail. Traces of Trick Daddy and Young Jeezy lingerthe former’s influence most clearly pronounced on Mastermind’s first single, “The Devil is a Lie.” Yet all Ross flows converge in tribute to Bad Boy’s new jack soul and Drake’s reconciliation of banging beats with R&B deceleration.
Like all of Ross’ albums, Mastermind is expansively gorgeousa scenic blend of curbside taunts, felonious overreactions, groupie shout-outs, and orgasmic braggadocio. It’s cohesive without being concept. Its soundscape is dynamic without being as scattershot as God Forgives. Where that record crowded Ross out of his own projectthe beats were too atypical and the features too plentifulMastermind brings a somewhat more understated rosterif you call Puffy and French Montana and Kanye West and Big Sean and Lil Wayne and Jeezy and The Weeknd and Mavado and Sizzla understated.
Diddy and French tag-team throughout as Mastermind’s consiglieres, with Montana blues-crooning the hook to “Nobody” and lending his favorite ad lib and new money cliches to “What A Shame.” As Mastermind’s final gueston “Thug Cry,” the outro till infinityLil Wayne flips his most sober verse since the Bush administration. Jeezy outdoes both himself and Ross on “War Ready”not that Ross seems to notice or mind as he cackles. Even the project’s most gratuitous featureBig Sean’s eight bars of just-happy-to-be-herebolsters Kanye’s heathen-gospel contribution, in which Yeezus waxes raspy as Shyne.
With Ross the past always rings present. Whether he’s spitting his bounciest Weezy impression over the purple Prowler brood of “BLK & WHT,” or answering Puffy’s Vicodin-deprived rants with a Biggie memorial flow on “Nobody,” the influences are clear. Scott Storch, Puffy, Kanye, and Bink!all doing their best to approximate the fun of a Mannie Fresh sessionoverwhelm the dynamite booms and trap claps favored on so many MMG projects. “The Devil Is A Lie,” featuring Jay Z, and “War Ready” rank as Mastermind’s biggest, most lethal beats, bookended by blues and reggae relief. The levity of a pyretic Puffy and a faded Katt Williams rounds out Mastermind’s comprehensive leisure, concluding with somber Acknowledgments from our grateful host.
Hand him the Oscar, already.
As the curtains fall, Ross’ fantastical resiliencewoven from equal parts truth and absurdityseems justified, earned. Hand him the Oscar, already. Consciously or not, the Mastermind has positioned himself as both Drake’s older, wiser brother, and Kanye’s sober cousin. Thats ambition without the galactic grandiosity of God Forgives.
At Rick Ross’ zenithembodied by 2010’s Teflon Donhe thrived by obliterating beats that thumped too heavily for his skinny contemporaries, on the one hand; and by jet-skiing over piano riffs on the otherhis lighter, more recreational tracks. Here he’s dialed down the symphonic onslaught of his later efforts, opting for island bass strums on “Mafia Music III” and the marching brass segno of “Rich Is Gangsta.” It’s a graceful balance from an artist who, in recent years, could easily be accused of trying too hard, doing too much.
All of which goes to say, if you love Deeper Than Rap, then you’ll fuck with this. For all of his cheeky experimentation with flows here, Ross Mastermind features minimal innovation of the formula that he patented five years ago. This album isn’t growth, exactly, so much as a feat of pure persistence. Ross appropriates Kanye’s funk and YMCMB’s pop hypnotics without meaning to become them. And so, true to the album’s artwork, Mastermind is a graffiti portrait of the artist as a grown-ass multi-millionaire.
..
shit is already posted here,
It sounds like a brother wrote this one and not some loser geeky white person.
Nah, it sounds like a bi8ased Ross fanboy with no understanding of music.
He is Black but most journalists are geeky, here he is @BrotherNumpsa, he calls himself a Brother and writes like one too.
he looks hispanic to me or really light skinned but not black
How many lies does he tell on here.
His lyrics are getting a little stale but the beats are banging!!
Port of Miami album is still my favorite from Ross…. Mastermind is good but far from classic
Fiddy told his trolls that Ross staged a shooting and they repeat it, the album was flames.
Ross stans are obsessed with 50 Cent when he has nothing to do with this weedplate.
no one lets off a clip and completely misses a car as big as a rolls royce. shit aint add up.
I love 50, he posted a picture of Ross on his IG to help promote his album release.
then he deleted it cause he doesnt wanna give that slob any help
upto I saw the draft ov $4134 , I didnt believe that my best friend was like truly bringing in money part time from there labtop. . there neighbor has done this for less than 8 months and as of now repaid the loans on there apartment and got a top of the range Saab 99 Turbo . why not look here……http://x.co/40OVt
Ross is the closest thing to Biggie smalls just like Kobe is the closest thing to Micheal Jordan… However, there’s only one Biggie and only one Mike
If you’re talking weight, them you’re correct. Otherwise, you’re wrong.
beside obesity, being black rappers and letting Diddy leach off their fame they don’t have much in common.
Ross is his own man, but the one thing they have in common is love and respect from their peers.
NOT!! The nigga wants to be Biggie so bad.
The only thing Ross has love and respect for is fast food.
“Ross is his own man”
He got another man’s name tattoeed on his hands!!! When he brushes his teeth at night he sees another man’s name! When he licks the chicken grease off his fingers he sees another man’s name! Not to mention he refused to acknowledge the man he stole his name and look from!
“Ross is his own man, but the one thing they have in common is love and respect from their peers.”
He is one of the more beloved figures in the game, I will give him that.
you know they all laugh at him behind his back
Weak album
Whats the best song on the album? I’m feeling that Scarface one but it didn’t even make the standard album…
MY fav tracks are Thug Cry, Sanctified, Blessings and Shame.
Santified is dope too but I that gospel shit throws it off for me. Sounds like a Kanye song with a Ross feature.
That beat, play Sanctified at high volumes.
I did the other day when they played it on Sirius but that gospel sample kills mah vibe!
Ross keeps making the same music with the same lies.
all these idiots come here and drop a 1 star rating without even listening to it. FUCK NIGGAS
all these idiots come here and drop a 5 star rating without even listening to it. FUCK NIGGAS
All these idiots, come here and idiot an idiot star idiot without even idioting to it. FUCK IDIOTS
bad
If yall niggas want a website that is un-biased, not run by fucking gump ass niggas who know shit about hip hop like that whore shelley pearce as reviewers all in the music albums dancing around the reviews…
COME TO KANYETOTHE.COM
bnigga you been hating on this website all day but you’re still here! how sad it that.
and gump has got to be one of the lamest insults ive ever heard!
When Rick Ross car was riddled with 18 bullets in a drive-by shooting last January, it affected the rapper more than he let on at the time. And that brush with deathwhich caused Ross to veer off the road and collide with an apartment building, luckily leaving no one injuredinforms Ross sixth album, Mastermind, more than most might have thought; the lushly produced project dwells early and often on the subjects of mortality, violence and the costs of being The Bawse.
Mastermind also comes at a critical point in Ross career, with younger artists hot on his tail in terms of relevance and many wondering what, after all the albums, collaborations and guest verses hes put out since his 2006 debut Port Of Miami, he still has left to say. But as the album was pushed back repeatedlyfirst from the summer, then from Dec. 17 until it landed yesterday, a day early, on Mar. 3 as Def Jam tried to find a single that would catch on at radiothe question became whether Ross had anything left at all, or any way to put it all together in a way that could stick.
The albums first single, The Devil Is A Lie featuring Jay Z, answered those questions to an extent; Ross has always had an exceptional ear for beats, and the Lie beatproduced by Major Seven and K.E. On The Trackas well as the Bink!-produced Mafia Music III, Mike WiLL Made Its War Ready, Kanye Wests Sanctified and Scott Storchs Supreme, all prove that that ear hasnt diminished at all. Hearing Ross dance and drive through a reggae beat on the same album as he slinks through Yeezy soul and The Weeknds delicate soundscapes keeps things fresher than they were on God Forgives, I Dont. When Ross is at his finest, he can treat a beat as his own personal playground, always exerting control while twisting and turning on top of it.
But even though the production is of the highest quality, and Ross has a newfound credibilityin everyones eyes except 50 Cents, of coursein the lifestyle of a drug kingpin that hes cultivated over the years, that doesnt really mean hes changed up his lyrical rubric, and he seldom steps too far out of his comfort zone. Hes the bossman who gives Wale a Cartier watch and Meek Mill a Range Rover in Rich Is Gangsta, then hes the drug dealer selling cocaine out of his Benz in Black And White. Hes lifting The Notorious B.I.G.s hook and flow on Nobody, then repurposing Ol Dirty Bastard lines for What A Shame. War Ready is a meditation on the violence of the streets, where Jeezy outshines everyone and Tracy T pulls a hook straight out of the depths of Futures hard drive, and Kanye steals the show on Sanctified right out from under Ross feet. And throughout, the tracks are peppered with gunshots and death references, reminding the listener that that January shooting never strays too far from his mind.
What Ross does well, and what he does again on Mastermind, is put together a body of work that is as formidable as he is, and taken as a whole its impossible to call this anything other than a very good album. Where people like Kanye and Drake and Kendrick Lamar keep winning by shaking up the formula and dabbling in the unexpected, Ross long ago identified his lane, and he is the undisputed kingpin of his brash brand of hip-hop. Ross die-hards will not be disappointed; anyone looking for something new and different was probably looking in the wrong place to begin with. Mastermind is a powerful album, an album with an identity, and one that has some solid songs and a handful of hits. Ross delivers just what he promised.
Dan Rys
mediocre album.. an thats from a fan.. accept it..
“the tracks are peppered with gunshots and death references,”
Which is stupid ironic because when he really heard them gunshots he was so scared he crashed into a building and they weren’t even shooting at his car!! LAWL!!!!
ARE YOU LOSERS HAPPY, A WHITE BOY FINALLY GAVE IT A DECENT REVIEW LMAO
IT GOT AN XL RATING IF ANYONE WAS WONDERING BUT DOESNT WANNA GO TO THAT SHITTY XXL WEBSITE TO CHECK
Hiphop dx is on some bull shit. This album is fucking raw. Real niggaz know.
how you gone say you a real nigga, but you support an obvious fake niogga like ross??? Lmao, fuck outta here lame ass cream corn ass nigga!
It’s a shame that the reviewer and all these Ross haters alike are so biased against an album that is an absolute masterpiece. Perhaps if they cleaned out their ears and gave Mastermind a few spins, they’d find that it is, by far, the most lyrically advanced soundscape of it’s time. Rick Ross’ lyrics are ahead of their time on such medleys such as “Black & White”, “War Ready” and “Supreme”. Rick once again shows us all his aptitude for picking dope beats by bringing in veteran producers (Scott Storch, P Diddy, Justice League) as well as newcomers (D-Rich, Black Metaphor, Reefa). Once again, the biggest boss thus far shows us that he has no intentions of ever slowing down in his ever ready & tight stranglehold of the rap game. #bawse 5/5
CORRECTION: Once again, the biggest boss thus far shows us that he has no signs of ever slowing down or loosening his stranglehold on the rap game. 5/5 #bawse
the skits are a masterpiece.. this album is nothing more than every other album.. GFID was more entertaining …
Sorry but you a Ross groupie, you can’t talk about bias.
“by far, the most lyrically advanced soundscape of it’s time.”
” Rick Ross’ lyrics are ahead of their time”
thanks for the laughs though lil homie.
That’s where you’re wrong, sir. I am a signed artist for Ross, as well as his closest & most trusted confidante. I’ve been through the entire ride and I can safely say that Mastermind is a masterpiece. The skits, the guest appearances, the minimalistic production, the brash & witty lyricism that Ross displays is the reason why you haters look down on him. You wish to live his life, smoke the Cubans that he smokes, penetrate foreign broads in heated marble floors, and drive foreign cars across Miami. I understand you haters wish to live his life, but sadly, you cannot. That is why you must resign to your fate as an anonymous user who is probably some poor minimum wage drone living check to check just to get by in the cruel world while we, the bosses, are everything you wish to become and emulate. Imitation is a rather sad form of flattery. #bawse.
no one believe you or that ross would ever sign an artist who calls himself rozay o’donnell
you are dentaldambitch reincarnated
I don’t know this dentaldamnboy person of which you speak. Is he someone of importance? I may’ve let the cat out of the bag, but I’ve been signed to Maybach Music since its inception as a ghostwriter, crafting many of Ross’ and other artists’ hits. That’s probably why you’ve never heard of me.
Yeah, you’re just dentalboy in disguise making up lies. This shit is trash.
Gave a listen all the way through. All sounds the same. Pretty weak IMO.
Your bitch said that your dick was weak and that you couldn’t even spit. Put your ass to sleep.
Mastermind will outsell Oxymoron.
Mastermind>Oxymoron
I’m sorry that you can’t stand the truth.
yeh it might outsell it…bcuz ross is more known dumbass. But that dont make ross better…..
no one expecting Q to outsell someone like Rick Ross who’s on his 6th major label album.
I just listened to the First 7 songs and I’m hearing good beats and solid lyrics. 3 stars is some Lil B shit. I was expecting some bullshit.
solid lyrics? Cmon be real with yourself.
>3 stars is some Lil B shit
your opinion is shit if you think Lil B deserves more than 1 star on anything.
Really good album, just go to Twitter and hash tag #Mastermind, scroll down and see people’s reactions ro the album.
why would anyone give two fucks about what people on twitter think of an album? chances are the people that don’t like it arent tweeting about it so you’re only going to see positive tweets.
I prefer to see what real people have to say about an album, why would I give two fucks about one opinion from one review from a person that lacks the musical understanding to make a quality review
And those people’s opinions don’t mean anything because they like trash music.
it’s funny how the 5 Ross stans on this site are trying hard to defend this album.
apparently theres 18 or else they rating it multiple times with proxies and shit
We are not stans, thank you very much. We are dedicated aficionados of Rick Ross who enjoy listening to his music and have been anxiously awaiting the release of his next work of art, Mastermind.
Funny how the lone 50 Stan on this site is trying hard to attack this album
Yes, you are stans.
trash …. next
Nice write-up Sheldon Pearce
I like how ross stans talk like him
William Roberts the gig is up you had a nice lil run
think you mean jig
Gig works too.
gig as in a show a performance
Im feeling Oxymoron more than this. I might take the bad songs from Oxymoron and put the few good ones from Mastermind in their place and call it OxymoronMind
“Mastermind simply lacks flair.”
Shelley is a bitch that got his feeling hurts.
fucking weirdo.
Album is 5/5
Shelley acting like he’s a gangsta when the farthest he went to the HHDX offices and got scared when some ole lady was playing sayign that she’d rob him.
fucking hypebeast loser nigga probably old as hell.
So he’s a bitch because he thinks the album sucks?
8 positive 3 mixed and one bad so far on Metacritic but they haven’t included XXL yet.
Same shit, different album. It’s one thing to take artistic liberties & stretch the truth when making a couple songs or maybe even a concept album, but when your entire persona, identity, brand & career are based upon essentially a blatant lie you can only go so far. And pretty much officer ricky has reached his ceiling, this album is just a rehash of the same tired fantasies & illusions, even the production which is normally his strong suit was lack luster this time around J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League only produced one cut on the entire album & it was wack. The secrets out Rick, the curtain’s been pulled back to reveal the wizard, might not be a bad idea to be a lil more grounded in reality next time around.
The writer complain so much about Ross that there wasn’t a highlight song he did like, so why a 3 out of 5 X rating.
Most non musical review I have ever seen.
He spoke truth.
I enjoyed this CD. I got a full chance to give it some burn on a road trip this weekend. The production is absolutely incredible and Ross is spitting that slick shit like no tomorrow. Gone are the “trap beats” replaced with orchestric layered melodies that make you want to pop Champagne and smoke a Cigar or in a few instances stand on the roof of your house and unload an AK into the moon.
I dont get caught up in the childishness of if lyrics are real confessions or simply just slick poems over instrumentals. Enjoy the music or ignore the music.
lol this nigga can write.
The trap beats are still there, in fact, that’s the whole production on this shit. And his rapping sucks.
Im presently listening to the album and I think over all this is a pretty good album.
Great effort, I don’t enjoy it as much as Teflon Don or GFID but it is a good album. It kinda shows that Ross’ writing skills are still on the rise but this time he did not had beats that good (some of them are boring) and some of the guests fucked up the song, Mavado for example, there is no need for reggae dancehall shit on this kind of album.
LOL THAT BEAT WAS SUPPOSE TO BE FOR DRE TOO! llololololol
His writing skills have been the same since the first album.
“Perhaps the worst instance of Masterminds lack of aspiration is What A Shame, an electro organ-backed bore which incorporates an interpolation of Wu-Tang Clans Shame On A Nigga into its mechanics. Full magazine bitch, shoot for the stars / Snatch a nigga chain just to post it on a blog, he raps, sounding rather pleased with himself, as if he really didnt just suggest hitting licks as a new form of click bait wasnt a lame idea, and this is simply a microcosm of the entire album.”
^^^^Yeah the Reviewer is that freakin stupid, he can’t even understand a simple line.
What’s there to understand? It’s a dumb line.
jeezy said it best. first they love you then they hate you. two years ago ross could do no wrong. look how they turning on him now. lame af
his shit is getting tired. he needs to reinvent himself
The writer didnt really tell me much about Mastermind. He instead went on and on about how Ross’ career is folding. I thought it was a pretty good album needless to say. Give me more of a review of an album next time instead of a review of a artists career..smh
You didn’t even read the whole review.
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but what does lord jamar think about it?
he probably cool with the fake shit cause a nigga out here eating.
A three is way too low, its a 4 if you are a fan of the music this review says nothing about the instruments, samples or specifics on production. These people need to give us a review of each individual song and less off topic stuff.
No, this deserves a 1 for being the same shit as the previous albums.
anon has got it right.
Pay no mind to this dip shit hack writer. They give anyone a job in journalism these days, especially if you got your degree out of a cereal box, just like this genius. Flawless production, stellar lyricism, refreshing guest appearances. Mastermind is simply a masterpiece. End of story. 5/5
Did you read the review dumb ass? The guy has no substance. All the shit he raps about is fake
@Rozay
Dont trip about it, its only one opinion and its not a popular opinion, most of the reviews have been positive, this guy talked about Ross more than he did the damn album!
Sheldon Pierce is a fucking idiot. I don’t even like Rick Ross and I thought this album deserved at least a 4/5
Yeah, yeah, yeah…Ross is a liar…..we all know that, however, I felt this was a solid album…..Its entertainment people, that’s all….the reviewer sounds bitter because he once thought these rappers were telling the truth….
It’s just Beats and Rhymes, it’s just rhyming words over instrumental beats it’s not supposed to be a biography or a death bed confession. If all the murder guns and violence on these rap songs was real then they would all be in jail or under indictment.
That’s your only argument that it’s entertainment. It doesn’t matter. This shit is trash and has no meaning besides fantasy drug rhymes.
This review is so biased, is this was journalism has come to? So should we not watch Batman because it never really happened? Oh and I’m sure Eminem really killed his wife right? So no more Eminem. Everyone lies, the question is how much, and I’m not just talking rap right now either. You’re telling me you’ve never lied Sheldon Pearce? I’m sure you’re resume that got you the job at HHDX is completely without fabrication right? I think I’m outgrowing this publication. The news is always days behind everyone else, the reviews are biased and have nothing to do with the music, and the mobile layout just sucks. Sorry rant over.
Eminem has A song about killing his wife. Everything else is pretty much one-liners he throws out.
On every single song Rick Ross is living out a fantasy that’s not real. Why doesn’t he have a song about how shitty it was being a CO? Or about how broke he was that he had to take that job? Or hustling in the prison? He doesn’t put himself into any of his art, which is why he is continually unable to craft a classic.
True on the Eminem thing, but my point was as an artist it’s your job to entertain people, and what you suggest isn’t Ross’s lane, it never has been and it probably never will be. Not everyone wants to rap like Kendrick. Maybe Ross likes living out a fantasy in his music because he doesn’t find his real life all that interesting. Either way his formula obviously works because he’s put out 6 albums, 5 of which have sold well over 500,000 copies, and 8 if you include the MMG compilations, not to mention 2 Wale albums and a Meek Mill album, so the guy is doing something right, and he’s making other people richthe American dream
asher1985 is your typical lying Ross dickrider.
sound like whoever wrote this review has a bad case of “I hate rozay” happening!!! rozay is rozay. if you’re in to the “square pop hip-hop then truly I understand the bad mouthing you gave ricky rozay, but us real street hop cats can dig every word spoken. music is nothing but entertainment, like the killer white America movies you love so much……it’s just entertainment!!!!!! stop the hating and let the man cash in
You’re a dumbass.
Mastermind is straight fire!! Soo much better than Oxymoron! Mastermind easily lived up to the hype; and this has been the Deeper Than Rap sequel we’ve been waiting for!! Ross’ flow is unmatched, and so is the lyricism – straight fire!
Oxymoron>>>>>>>>>>Mastermind
you are the true definition of a hate bruh!!!! Rozay ate on “MASTERMIND” sucker!!!!!
3/5 or 3/6 is the best score you can give it. it’s good at times but not true heavyweight material. the skits were harder than most of the songs.
The only criticism is it lacks any feel good/chill songs. Almost every track is about the same thing, and that wears things out fast, but for a few weeks it’s not bad till something better comes out.
After a few setbacks, Rick Ross finally delivers “Mastermind,” his sixth solo album that truly shows he is a master at what he does.
In the last two years between his last album and now, Rick Ross has been through a lot, including surviving a targeted hit on his life. Critics bashed God Forgives, I Dont and many wondered if Ross had peaked too soon and lost his touch. After numerous setbacks and delays, the bawse is back with his sixth album to prove that hes a man with nine lives and a rapper with hits for days.
Calling it a masterpiece sets the bar very high but Ross has no problem hitting the mark and surpassing it. “Its all about coming from wherever you come from and take it wherever you want to go to, the Miami rapper says about the title, Mastermind. And the minute you do that thats when you can consider yourself a mastermind.”
A soulful album that will no doubt feed the streets, Mastermind is rife with rhymes and lyrics about drug dealing coupled with the finer things in life. He name drops luxe brands with ease: Patek Philippe, platinum Audemar, Birkin bags, Rolls Royce Wraith, Ferraris, Belaire Ros, brazilian weaves, silk underwear, Balmain uniforms.No one does luxurious gangsta rap better than Ross and on Supreme, produced by Scott Storch, he shows us why hes the best:
Speeding in the Ghost on the phone with the jewelers/ My new bitch out of D.C. call me Rick the Ruler/ Gotta gather my concentration while counting my stacks/ I got eight car notes and just lost me a pack/ On the beach Im up and down, women jocking my ride/ 300 horses in this bitch, need a jockey inside/ False floors for firearms is how you should ride/ Tried to murder me while in mine so thats how I survived
Its not all Ros popping on Mastermind; being the boss comes with plenty of problems and Ross gives us a hint of what life is like living with a constant target on his back in reggae tinged Mafia Music III featuring Sizzla and Mavado:
Moving bricks like its Black Friday/ She gotta fuck me or call me a fat crybaby/ Looking over my shoulder, I cant trust a soul/ Bought a spot in Anguilla just for me and my ho/ Glock .40 even when I shower/ Chrome .22 in my swimming tower/ Mob ties and I pray the music set me free/ May the powers that be, nigga let me be
In Nobody, Rozays 2014 remake of the classic Youre Nobody (Til Somebody Kills You) by The Notorious B.I.G., Diddy steals the show with his classic yet inspiring shit talking rant aimed at an employee but caught on tape for our enjoyment. French Montana provides the hook, a spot where hes best. The coke boy also provides the hook for What A Shame, a Wu-Tang influenced song.
His beef with Atlanta rapper Jeezy has been well chronicled but after T.I. and DJ Khaled intervened, the beef was buried and the two collaborated for the Mike Will Made It produced track War Ready. Kanye West and his G.O.O.D. Music signee Big Sean join in for the exuberant and joyful Sanctified, which opens up with a sample of Betty Wright crooning about being born again.
Tapping into his soulful side, In Vein featuring The Weeknd sounds like it could be right at home on the Canadian crooners album but it fits at home just as perfectly here. Surprisingly, the Jay Z featured Devil Is A Lie is one of the weakest songs on Mastermind although K.E. On The track certainly delivers a banging beat.
There are many stand-out tracks on Mastermind but none more than Thug Cry featuring Lil Wayne. The juxtaposition between the beautiful sound and violent lyrics wont be lost on anyone:
Wake up in the world and Im just another nigga/ Call it public housing when you next door to the killers/ On them corners it gets better as you go/ Grind that motherfucker til its yellow brick road/ Free as a bird, spoken word in my verse/ On my knees prayin, niggas shootin in the church/ Wake up out my sleep in another cold sweat/ I lived on Billboard, where the fuck to go next?
A mastermind at selecting just the right beat, Ricky Rozay worked with a host of producers but left it all in the hands of Diddy to executive produce and put the final touches on it to make it a true masterpiece. His best work yet, Mastermind reminds us why hes the Telfon Don and why hell continue to dominate the rap game, and that he still loves his lemon-peppered wings.
Dickrider levels: over 9000.
MASTERMIND IS WACK, except 3 songs.
1)Sanctified
2)Black and White
3)Walkin on Air (Wack ass Meek Mill saved this)
The rest is recycled same shit garbage
Bogus review. Yall didn’t even mention thug cry. Yall just trippin off the officer ricky joke, still. That’s even more store than whatever you think this is. 50 cent get off your keyboard and make a hit
lol It sounds like this writer doesn’t like the Rozay used to be a cop. Yeah, Teflon Don remains a great album, but 3 albums later Ross has nothing worthwhile left in him clearly.
Boring album
This sites reviews are becoming less professional and more amateurish everyday. Im no super Rick Ross fan but I admit the man consistently raps over some of the best, most sophisticated and lush production of any emcee ever. You know what you’re getting with Ross just like you know what to expect with Schoolboy Q. Hip hop has alwyas had masterful story tellers who exaggerated images and glorified dum shit. Its called entertainment dumb ass. Biggie with the whole Frank White imagery did the same exact shit as Ross ( albeit way more skillfully) and when I tired of all the fake mafiosa imagery and the rampant ignorance I’d put on nas..who had his share of super ignorant, wannabe drug lord/scarface rap too( remeber NAS ESCOBAR). Either this reviewer doesnt know his hiphop history or just has a personal thing against Ross. i think its the later not the former.
1. This album is trash.
2. You can’t compare Ross to Biggie, Nas, and other rappers as they haven’t let their personas take over.
HHDX keeps talking about how Rick Ross “hasn’t been at the top of his game since Rich Forever which should have been an album” and then when you click on the link they rated Rich Forever as “just a mixtape” LOL.
This album is crazy especially if you like Soulful music.
Best songs:
Sanctified
Dealers Dream
Blessings in Disguise
Thug Cry
Paradise Lost
Supreme
MASTERMIND Is up there with Teflon Don, it’s one of Ross best albums
If you like Soulful Music, this shit ain’t for you.
every remake was corny. still no vivid details about drug dealing or life in the trap. his rise. his losses. the niggas he lost. how his mom was. the shit with keith sweat a filler. gave some bum bitches like 3 min of my time for a skit to show he can afford to trick on them. im a bay boy. n.r. ca. i like authentic shit that i can feel words that touch me. my fav reality gangster rappers are juvenile solja rag,400,g code, etc, trick daddy dollar all his shit, soula slim, mac from no limit, seagram from east oakland RIP, 2pac a real nigga that stood for more than himself and his fortune, E40, C.I.N. from richmond ca, they all paint vivid pictures if you lived it they paint reminders Biggie, raekwon, ghostface, even 50 cent cuz i lived what he talked about. i cant support a man thats beefing with a man about his own name that came home a man and cant capitalize on his own name that his mom gave him and he earned with blood sweat and tears. i fucks with beans, free way, neef and chris, oschino and sparks, peedi make the mac go ring. i cant go from that to this. God bless rick ross and his fans. a real gangster/nigga teach you shit when he gives his testimony. this boy bragging like being indicted and running for your life is fun. everytime a sell pull up or call you dont know if you going to jail or about to be killed. ask big meech would he trade the $ he had to be a lil boy in detroit again broke if he say yeah and really could i a, he wont no real nigga will.
Rick Ross remained a fixture on rap radio in 2013 thanks to guest spots on gangbuster singles from Ace Hood, DJ Khaled, Jay Z, and Rockohits so big they masked the fact that Ross didnt have one of his own. Ross has never been one to let inconvenient realities get in the way of awesome myths, however, so although his sixth album, Mastermind, arrives tailed by several flopped singles, he still carries himself like the biggest star in the world. He opens Drug Dealers Dream with a recorded bank statement ($92,153,183.28, and thats just his checking account), and dedicates an entire track to news coverage of a drive-by shooting that targeted him last January as if it were a headline heard around the world. In his mind he remains the center of the universe, an untouchable deity blessed with unthinkable power and riches and no reason to believe that prosperity will ever end.
Thats probably for the best, since nobody wants to hear a humbled Rick Ross, but Mastermind does offer some insights into what a post-fame Ross album might sound like. Already, hes scaled back some of the ridiculous profligacy of 2012s God Forgives, I Dont, favoring leaner, dirtier beats over gilded indulgences. This is Ross first album since his 2006 debut without an opulent Maybach Music suite, and its pacing benefits greatly from that omission. Instead, most of the budget here seems to have been spent on judicious guest features. Jay Z offers an increasingly rare glimpse at his former greatness on the triumphant, horn-kicked The Devil Is A Lie, while Kanye West is a riot on his whimsical DJ Mustard co-production Sanctified.
For all the vitriol he attracts from certain hip-hop circles, Ross is a rap traditionalist at heart, and with its gritty raps and loud soul interjections, Mastermind is the closest hes come to making a straightforward New York-style rap record. He even makes the citys influence explicit on What A Shame with appropriations of both Wu-Tang and Camp Lo. And really, at this point in his career New York is as good a model for Ross as any. In that city, aging veterans from the Wu-Tang Clan and the Boot Camp Clik on down have continued to release perfectly respectable, if stubbornly predictable records long after their commercial peak, and its easy to imagine Ross settling into a similar pattern should radio ever leave him behind completely. His star may be dimming, but hes still got some spirited music left in him.
Album is weak
Shut up to all the negative comments…..he’s on any level better rapper than y’all favorite rappers
You wished.
i listened to the whole album. i liked port of miami but im going to replay it. this aint it, wish yaull got to here the real shit. too bad this shit feels like im watching miami vice and not the wire!
Biased review, very little insight I to the muck itself which is what I wanted to hear.
Why are their no specifics in this review about the actual music?
The closest thing to a comment on the music was this: “an electro organ-backed bore which incorporates an interpolation of Wu-Tang Clans Shame On A Nigga”.
This screams hit piece.
but it was better than Q’s album. site keeps looking credibility
No, it wasn’t
yes it was!!
No it wasn’t
beast
Damn…. I listened to the Jeezy song ans dismissed this as shit but usually Ross makes at least decent music. This shit is fire. Not one skippable song, War Ready is forgettable and is something I feel like Ive heard before. The rest is pure Hip-Hop and Ross talking shit. Production is top notch and I even enjoyed the skits. To bad this will either be forgotten or hated on without actually being listened to.
Best SongS:
Walkin On Air
Sanctified
In Vein
Thug Cry
Supreme
Rich Is Gangsta
Mafia Music 3
The Devil Is A Lie
Album is garbage, period.
dude, stop fucking up the comment section.
You’re the one fucking up the comment section.
THIS IS A DOPE ALBUM. WORTH AT LEAST 4. GOD FORGIVES, I DONT WAS OK. RICH FOREVER IS RICK ROSS’S BEST ALBUM AND A CLASSIC. CRITICS ON THIS WEBSITE ACT THEY KNOW ALL ABOUT HIPHOP BUT THEY DONT KNOW SHIT. I HAVE BEEN LISTENING SUGARHILL GANG. RICK ROSS IS DOPE AND THERE ARE PLENTY OF PHONY LEGENDARY RAPPERS WHO HAVE BULLSHITTED THEIR ENTIRE CAREER (DR. DRE FOR EXAMPLE)
Nobody believes your lies.
Rich Forever was a mixtape…not an album
I was totally prepared to trash this album, aptly because I wasn’t expecting this to be anything other than trash. He pulled some absolute tomfoolery for the promotion of this album, because he led me to believe he was running out of gas on God Forgives, I Don’t, but he killed most of the shit he did in 2013 (remixes of New Zealand breakout stars aside). But then, he came out with two singles I didn’t care for too much, “War Ready” with Jeezy and his interpretation of Biggie’s “You’re Nobody Til Somebody Kills You”, which led me to forget 2013 ever happened in terms of Ross material (because hip hop is such a “now” genre). Not to mention that Twitter would’ve been a beautiful place in the unification of trashing this record, because this particular subject can inspire a lot of great material.
But similar to that fictitious woman from “UOENO” when she realized her drink was spiked, Rick Ross surprised me. When I played the intro and heard the fantastic beat at the end, I thought he was gonna do some funny shit and only make that beat last 10 seconds. But nope, he came through in the form of “Rich Is Gangsta”, and with that one song my fears were nearly quelled. That was his best album track since Teflon Don (Rich Forever not withstanding), and lucky for me it led into the equally-awesome “Drug Dealers Dream”. And something funny happened, the songs I didn’t like at first (“Nobody” and “War Ready”) actually sounded quite a bit better in the context of the album.
On God Forgives, I Don’t, the main problem was that Ross sounded like he was on total autopilot mode, but on Mastermind he returns to being versatile and energetic like on Deeper Than Rap and Teflon Don (or tracks last year like “Box Chevy” or “No Games”). I thought he might have regressed into one-dimensional lyric territory a la Wiz Khalifa (2011 to today) but thankfully he proved me wrong here, he returns to the good lyricism and fantastic production that helped make Teflon Don one of the best mainstream releases of its year. However, unlike Teflon Don, these features looked very troubling for the quality of this album; Lil Wayne, French Montana and Big Sean aren’t exactly names you want to see in the credits. Fortunately, French and Sean are only reduced to doing hooks, and Wayne conjures up a decent verse, especially compared to his current standard. As for everyone else, The Weeknd’s feature was great, Hov delivered with with one of his best verses of 2013, and the dancehall vibe on “Mafia Music 3” was a really cool touch.
Hi, dickrider.
I wish the review had discussed the songs sorta like you did but with some detail
@anon1, shut the fuck up. it’s my review, dumb ass
Why does it seem like a lot of white boys (teens) hate the hell out of Rick Ross? They say he’s fake as if they’re some hardcore gangsters or something.
It’s not just white boys, people of all races can’t stand this fat fuck.
Ain’t it crazy, the shit me overboard and intense. Every rapper has Haters but they hate Ross with an intensity that they usually reserve for Benzino and Lord Jammar.
how can you tell age and skin color from comments on here? i think you’re jumping to conclusions. lots of people of color cannot stand this man or his work.
Great album, terrible review.
This is the same crap he gave us his previous albums, no growth or anything. It’s nothing we haven’t heard before. Next.
Not so good album.
Why couldnt Kanye produce the whole album? would of ended in more sales, and sanctified was actually A GREAT song, and i hate ross, dont like sean, and i havent cared much for kanyes recent material, but that song was really well produced, and kanye came with energy. Rosses mafioso persona shined well on the soulful production. Even though I agree this album is still a 3 or 3.5 out of 5 because of the one dimensionality and his hollow persona that can develop into a broken record, Ross has never been a bad rapper, just too consumed with his persona and image and Diddy in his ear constantly spewing nonsense trying to make Ross the next Biggie, which is not happening anytime soon.
because then it would sound like a kanye album featuring rick ross
It kills me how all of a sudden its 2014 and ppl young and old (for the past 12 years) have been all of a sudden overly critical about every lyric, beat, style, team, verse, wateva that comes out of every artist mouth now adays. It’s like them comic book geeks who wait for years for movies to drop just so they can shit talk about it and not take it as what it was. I personally like the album. Its a good definition of great stuff in new times which I have to admit is rare. But truth be told it’s as rare as it’s ever been. PPL act like biggie and pac especially didnt make weak tracks pac had mad wack songs before he was crowned that nigga. The waves are no different. Biggie and Pac was just the first and almost only two niggas ever of their calabare who died at the height of their wave. Say that shit neva happened and Ross got shot 2 weeks from now. mastermind would be crowned a classic and ross would be the top 10 to have eva did it. PPL minds to small to realize that hip hop/rap aint been round dat long. Give dis shit time and the artists a chance or else we gonna loose it and it a neva come back. Over thinkitive ass mufuckas
You’re the dumbest Ross stan on this site.
You’re right that Tupac made probably at least 200 tracks that nobody ever listens to. I don’t really like his music, but he seems to have affected a lot of people.
If RR died tomorrow, everyone would still remember that he has always sucked and is a phony. The people giving his album 5 stars now would probably be happy to admit that they are never going to listen to it cause who gives a shit. HUGE difference
lolololol “classic Rick Ross tropes”
if somebody sucks for 10 years straight, now it gets defined as classic sucking
Disagree with this review. This is a dope album. Kanye track, Jay-Z track and Young Jeezy tracks alone are amazing. And “god forgives, i don’t” is not better than “rich forever”, which is a classic. Rick Ross killing it. Fuck the haterz
This album was FIRE!!
Great review. It’s an honest appraisal of the album and Ross as an artist. Youngsters will get upset b/c they want to continue to indulge in Ross’ fantasies.
My favorite Rick Ross album to date coincidentally i don’t really like Rick Ross’s music that much so that should tell you something
Great album. I’ll remember to stay away from Sheldon Pearce reviews
i expected more. this shit trash to me personally. jeezy killed him on war ready. jay killed him on devil is a lie. he should of left fuck with me you know i got it off the album. if you’re gonna just keep yourself on the track you’re suppose to kill it. i just expected more the way he hyped it up. i think he has put out better mixtapes.
Lol some likes this
I like the CD very much.
I never liked Ross but I decided to give this a listen because Jake One is my favorite producer and I have to admit that I was blown away. Ross has an incredible ear for beats and he can skillfully ride a track. I guess you could say that I am a fan of his music now.
It just feels like he doesn’t care anymore.. These songs aren’t bad per se but Ross does nothing to do them any justice. Half the songs are either poor re-hashes of his upscale Teflon Don/God Forgives material ( Rich Is Gangsta, Supreme, Thug Cry) or poor re-hashes of his trap-influenced mixtape material (Drug Dealers Dream, War Ready, Walkin’ on Air). The other half have a different vibe for being Ross tracks (Mafia Music III, Blk & Wht, In Vein) but he stumbles through them, sounding as if he doesn’t really know how to handle himself on them. Ross was only ever good over tracks that were either evil-sounding trap or lush and grandiose, and even at this point you can’t help feeling like those tracks have lost the magic they possessed on a record like Teflon Don. It all exposes Ross as being a pretty one-dimensional artist. I honestly don’t know where he can go from here.. A shame considering I really liked him from 2009-2012
Once again HHDX with the attention whore review.
Seriously did the guy even listen to the album?
Goddamn idiot this is a 4 at the most, same for Q’s album.
HHDX with their nose stuck up their momma asses acting out again.
Fuck the Lupesection from KTT
HHDX only give 4s to underground or Indie rappers or some unlistenable shit like Yeezus, fuck a critic opinion positive or negative, I feel comrtable enough with my own ears to make my own musical opinion.
Very good album that has gotten, very bad reviews, by editors.
Rick Ross – Boss Level Interviews exclaim.ca
It feels like it was eons ago, since then up-and-coming rapper Rick Ross dropped his first hit single, “Hustlin.” For almost a decade, Ross has been at the top of the rap heap, doling out celebratory club bangers about pushing cocaine and dealing “eight balls” to his connects. While many of his contemporaries have come and gone, Ross has always had the uncanny ability to endure. And endure he has. Whether taking shots literally and figuratively from his opponents, or backlash over his stint as a correctional officer, he’s remained unscathed. His musical body of work is also well fortified, with five successful albums under his belt and countless collaborations with some of music’s biggest artists. Despite these accolades, the rapper’s stock has wavered in the last couple of months. Suffering from several low-charting singles, album pushbacks, and losing his Reebok deal over his infamous “molly” line, the Teflon Don has never appeared more vulnerable. Motivated to hold his title as a hip-hop heavyweight, Ross returns with his sixth album, Mastermind. Executively produced by Sean “Diddy” Combs, the album is filled with soulful cuts that act as a backdrop against the rapper’s usual gangster retrospectives and thinly veiled threats. Exclaim! caught up with Rozay to talk about the new album, working with Diddy, and capturing the soulful sounds of the ’90s.
On Twitter you mentioned the first time you heard yourself on the radio was “Something’s Going On” with Trick Daddy. How do you compare that with now being on your sixth album?
There’s nothing really like that first time, but just remaining consistent means the most to me and I think is the biggest difference. The first time I heard myself it was just about me and [being] on the radio. But now it’s [grown] and become more about reaching the fans who support me.
You talk about how you approach songs from a writer’s perspective. Which song on Mastermind challenged you the most as a writer?
“Nobody” was definitely one of the more challenging ones and I was really passionate [about that song]. As a lyricist, it’s not about putting the words together a lot of the times, but it’s about catching those moments that mean the most to you and translating that and putting it on record. Also “Black & White” was another difficult one that took a couple months.
Talk a bit more about “Black & White.” What is that song about?
“Black & White,” I’m really just talking about a young brother who’s in the streets and dependent on narcotics cocaine to survive. I talk about the highs and lows, the growth and the rise [of dealing drugs] and at the same time I let you know there’s life [sentence] waiting for you if you do this.
How did the collaboration between you and the Weeknd happen?
I’ve wanted to collaborate with the Weeknd for a minute now. It was just timing. We got together and we spoke about the collaboration and then he was on tour and I went on tour, but we stayed in touch. We spoke over the phone several times and we just talked about doing something that was a little slower-paced, a little more intricate where it almost felt 3D and that’s when I saw the homie’s pen game; he may be one of the best writers in the game. It’s just a powerful record.
You talked about wanting to take the sounds of the record back to the ’90s. Why was it important to capture that era?
I feel like the mid-’90s was my favourite era of rap music, It’s just what I grew up listening to. I had some of my best memories during that time and Puff Daddy was most definitely the dude to make that happen. And he’s family so it was all good.
You’re already a recognizable presence, but of course Diddy has that wealth of experience in production. How did he push you musically?
Most definitely, I mean he sold over 75 million records, so he knows what he’s doing and brought that experience to the table. So when we were in the studio after the songs we’re complete [Diddy] worked his magic during post- production; bringing in guitarists and other musicians so the music would reach its full potential.
For me personally, I think “Presidential” off your last album, God Forgives, I Don’t, sonically is one of your best songs. Will we have tracks on this album that have that same soulful yet grandiose punch to it?
Most definitely. When I think of “Presidential” I can’t help but think of this one record, “Supreme,” because it’s in the same vibe and I wanted to do something different and splash an older feeling of just going back [again] to that ’90s vibe.
Do you see yourself making more music in that style and moving away from the trap sounds you’ve helped launch to popularity?
I just create whatever it is I feel. Whatever zone I’m in, whatever vibe I’m in, if that’s the music I want to make, that’s what I make.
You said once, “My passion for art and being successful supersedes yours.” Speak on those words a little bit. “Boss”.
This Album was bangin clearly the dude writing this review is a hater. Next time listen to the album fuck boy.
Great album that has got a lot of good reviews, so far 9 Positive, 3 mixed and 1 negative.
I love the direction Ross took on this LP, he stuck with a proven formula and didnt try to cross over to appeal to the Hippys. Im disappointed that Blessing in Disguise didnt make the original LP but rather the Deluxe but their are so many great songs on the OG version that Im not Mad.
LOlOL, only Ross could put Keith Sweat, Scott Storch and Katt Williams on a track and make it work or put Sizzla and Movado on a DanceHall track in 2014 and have you feeling like a Kingston Crime Boss eating Jerk Chicken wings from an armed Villa.
Ross sounds grandiose and boastful as ever as if the attempts on his life only fueled his Hustle and made him more hungry for Lemon Pepper Wings and more thirsty for Pink Champagne.
Sanctified is the stand out track for me, its been two years since Kanye dropped a guest verse and the track is epic with Gospel crooning and Ross finding a way to rap about grilled cheese over angelic drums, its a tasty treat and another Kanye/Rozay gem to add to the vault.
I wasnt really feeling the Meek Mill track or the reprise to Fuckwitmeyouknowigotit but Thug Cry shocked the shit out of me with Wayne actually sounding hungry again.
My Fav tracks:
MM 3
Sanctified
Thugs Cry
War Ready
What A Shame
Blessings in Disguise
Nobody
Another solid effort from the Boss and a much better product from GIFD but a bit short from the pinnacle that Teflon Don was.
this is the worst review of the album I read but the idiot still gives it 3 Stars which is favorable, I doubt he listened to the album because he only commented on 3 songs and the rest of the review was his opinion about Ross Persona instead of Ross music.
XXL:
When Rick Ross car was riddled with 18 bullets in a drive-by shooting last January, it affected the rapper more than he let on at the time. And that brush with deathwhich caused Ross to veer off the road and collide with an apartment building, luckily leaving no one injuredinforms Ross sixth album, Mastermind, more than most might have thought; the lushly produced project dwells early and often on the subjects of mortality, violence and the costs of being The Bawse.
Mastermind also comes at a critical point in Ross career, with younger artists hot on his tail in terms of relevance and many wondering what, after all the albums, collaborations and guest verses hes put out since his 2006 debut Port Of Miami, he still has left to say. But as the album was pushed back repeatedlyfirst from the summer, then from Dec. 17 until it landed yesterday, a day early, on Mar. 3 as Def Jam tried to find a single that would catch on at radiothe question became whether Ross had anything left at all, or any way to put it all together in a way that could stick.
The albums first single, The Devil Is A Lie featuring Jay Z, answered those questions to an extent; Ross has always had an exceptional ear for beats, and the Lie beatproduced by Major Seven and K.E. On The Trackas well as the Bink!-produced Mafia Music III, Mike WiLL Made Its War Ready, Kanye Wests Sanctified and Scott Storchs Supreme, all prove that that ear hasnt diminished at all. Hearing Ross dance and drive through a reggae beat on the same album as he slinks through Yeezy soul and The Weeknds delicate soundscapes keeps things fresher than they were on God Forgives, I Dont. When Ross is at his finest, he can treat a beat as his own personal playground, always exerting control while twisting and turning on top of it.
But even though the production is of the highest quality, and Ross has a newfound credibilityin everyones eyes except 50 Cents, of coursein the lifestyle of a drug kingpin that hes cultivated over the years, that doesnt really mean hes changed up his lyrical rubric, and he seldom steps too far out of his comfort zone. Hes the bossman who gives Wale a Cartier watch and Meek Mill a Range Rover in Rich Is Gangsta, then hes the drug dealer selling cocaine out of his Benz in Black And White. Hes lifting The Notorious B.I.G.s hook and flow on Nobody, then repurposing Ol Dirty Bastard lines for What A Shame. War Ready is a meditation on the violence of the streets, where Jeezy outshines everyone and Tracy T pulls a hook straight out of the depths of Futures hard drive, and Kanye steals the show on Sanctified right out from under Ross feet. And throughout, the tracks are peppered with gunshots and death references, reminding the listener that that January shooting never strays too far from his mind.
What Ross does well, and what he does again on Mastermind, is put together a body of work that is as formidable as he is, and taken as a whole its impossible to call this anything other than a very good album. Where people like Kanye and Drake and Kendrick Lamar keep winning by shaking up the formula and dabbling in the unexpected, Ross long ago identified his lane, and he is the undisputed kingpin of his brash brand of hip-hop. Ross die-hards will not be disappointed; anyone looking for something new and different was probably looking in the wrong place to begin with. Mastermind is a powerful album, an album with an identity, and one that has some solid songs and a handful of hits. Ross delivers just what he promised.
Dan Rys
A very solid effort from Ross, I hate the Weekend but other than that I dont skip any tracks.
Rick Ross: Mastermind (Maybach Music Group) What irony! Heres platinum rapper Rick Ross, back with his sixth album, titling it Mastermind and not realizing the MIND part of the title was printed backwards on the album cover! What a dope! Aside from that, though, this record is great! If youre like me, youll probably agree with ace Amazon reviewer Ronald Mcteer, who noted only this week that expecting Ross not to spit about the hustler lifestyle is like going to a strip club and not wanting to tip the strippers, it does not make sense. Exactly! And when it comes to that unique slice of life philosophizing that rappers like Ross do bestthe sort vividly on display here via tracks like Dope Bitch Skit, Thug Cry and the thought-provoking Rich Is GangstaMastermind shows Ross has risen to a completely new level: The eighth floor, specializing in housewares, kitchen appliances and home dcor!
LMAO ROLLING STONE REALLY CALLED HIM A PLATINUM RAPPER?
Found a review that actually does this album justice!
http://thehiphopbassment.blogspot.com/
Mastermind is another definitive and progressive body of work by the legendary Rick Ross. Album number six is a lock to be another gold certified chart topper for the MMG bawse! Haters can be mad at this record because Rozay keep putting out dope albums. Stand out tracks like ” in the vein” featuring the weeknd and “sanctified” produced by kanye west is pure fire. The bawse is lyrically in boss mode. Yes the drug talk is a little tedious at this point. But expecting Ross not to spit about the hustler lifestyle is like going to a strip club not wanting to tip the strippers, it does not make sense. Ross create detailed and vivid street tales that only a boss would know. C.O background granted, a lot of rappers had past jobs before they were stars that would surprise you. Sorry haters its true (ha ha). Rick Ross is a legend period. Mastermind is another hit album for his true fans. If you like coke rap with internal street intelligence, then add this stellar album to your collection you will not be disappointed. Salute to the MMG kingpin of street rap. Rozay!!!!!
Nobody believes your lies, dickrider.
Think of Rick Ross’ catalogue as a resounding march from Port of Miami to “B.M.F.,” the 808s popping deeper at each successive turn. A progression from the screwed hooks and beachside conspiracy bluffs of Ross’ debut to black-glove mafia menace, all culminating in his last studio album, God Forgives, I Don’t, an obese symphony including all possible instruments, features, ad libs, boastsmaking for a sometimes indigestible buffet.
Thankfully, Mastermind loosens the belt a few notches.
In the sense that 2009’s Deeper Than Rap marked Ross shift into cinematic, charismatic storytelling, and widescreen appeal as a persona, Mastermind is Deepers rightful sequel. From jacking the synth flood of Brian De Palma’s Tony Montana soundtrack to launching its first act through alternating Caribbean sunshine and .38 caliber hail. Traces of Trick Daddy and Young Jeezy lingerthe former’s influence most clearly pronounced on Mastermind’s first single, “The Devil is a Lie.” Yet all Ross flows converge in tribute to Bad Boy’s new jack soul and Drake’s reconciliation of banging beats with R&B deceleration.
Like all of Ross’ albums, Mastermind is expansively gorgeousa scenic blend of curbside taunts, felonious overreactions, groupie shout-outs, and orgasmic braggadocio. It’s cohesive without being concept. Its soundscape is dynamic without being as scattershot as God Forgives. Where that record crowded Ross out of his own projectthe beats were too atypical and the features too plentifulMastermind brings a somewhat more understated rosterif you call Puffy and French Montana and Kanye West and Big Sean and Lil Wayne and Jeezy and The Weeknd and Mavado and Sizzla understated.
Diddy and French tag-team throughout as Mastermind’s consiglieres, with Montana blues-crooning the hook to “Nobody” and lending his favorite ad lib and new money cliches to “What A Shame.” As Mastermind’s final gueston “Thug Cry,” the outro till infinityLil Wayne flips his most sober verse since the Bush administration. Jeezy outdoes both himself and Ross on “War Ready”not that Ross seems to notice or mind as he cackles. Even the project’s most gratuitous featureBig Sean’s eight bars of just-happy-to-be-herebolsters Kanye’s heathen-gospel contribution, in which Yeezus waxes raspy as Shyne.
With Ross the past always rings present. Whether he’s spitting his bounciest Weezy impression over the purple Prowler brood of “BLK & WHT,” or answering Puffy’s Vicodin-deprived rants with a Biggie memorial flow on “Nobody,” the influences are clear. Scott Storch, Puffy, Kanye, and Bink!all doing their best to approximate the fun of a Mannie Fresh sessionoverwhelm the dynamite booms and trap claps favored on so many MMG projects. “The Devil Is A Lie,” featuring Jay Z, and “War Ready” rank as Mastermind’s biggest, most lethal beats, bookended by blues and reggae relief. The levity of a pyretic Puffy and a faded Katt Williams rounds out Mastermind’s comprehensive leisure, concluding with somber Acknowledgments from our grateful host.
Hand him the Oscar, already.
As the curtains fall, Ross’ fantastical resiliencewoven from equal parts truth and absurdityseems justified, earned. Hand him the Oscar, already. Consciously or not, the Mastermind has positioned himself as both Drake’s older, wiser brother, and Kanye’s sober cousin. Thats ambition without the galactic grandiosity of God Forgives.
At Rick Ross’ zenithembodied by 2010’s Teflon Donhe thrived by obliterating beats that thumped too heavily for his skinny contemporaries, on the one hand; and by jet-skiing over piano riffs on the otherhis lighter, more recreational tracks. Here he’s dialed down the symphonic onslaught of his later efforts, opting for island bass strums on “Mafia Music III” and the marching brass segno of “Rich Is Gangsta.” It’s a graceful balance from an artist who, in recent years, could easily be accused of trying too hard, doing too much.
All of which goes to say, if you love Deeper Than Rap, then you’ll fuck with this. For all of his cheeky experimentation with flows here, Ross Mastermind features minimal innovation of the formula that he patented five years ago. This album isn’t growth, exactly, so much as a feat of pure persistence. Ross appropriates Kanye’s funk and YMCMB’s pop hypnotics without meaning to become them. And so, true to the album’s artwork, Mastermind is a graffiti portrait of the artist as a grown-ass multi-millionaire.
nobody cares dude, write your novels somewhere else
post it a few more times loser LMAO
Another Wack Ass Lying Album
We get it already. You got some money, which you wish you earned selling drugs. You are a Whore’s Trick.
Yall trippin again. This album was hard as fuck
Dis album sounds really good. . . .
This album more is more of a “Life of a dope dealer” kinda album.
I think was better “God Forgives I Don’t” was more well rounded for everybody
Actuallu this was a great album. Well thought out track list, so it was just “a hodgepodge of classic Rick Ross tropes thrown into one and tagged with a title more fit for super-villainy.”
rozay the best rapper since rakim
LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL X INFINITY AND SHIT.
whack album
this album goes hard n it aint generic like some other bullshit dats been goin on. its 5 times better than schoolboy q. its jus erry body is ridin on TDE’s dickright nw
HHDX SOME HATERS… ALBUM IS FUCKING DOPE!!!
WHAT A HATING REVIEW… MUSICALLY THE ALBUM IS DOPE. HHDX CONCENTRATE ON THE MUSIC YOUR NOT REVIEWING A SERIES OF “THE WIRE”
hating would be if they gave it a 1 or 2 star, this just seems like it wasnt their cup of tea and rightfully so, not everyone like the same thing. look at the user reviews and see that.
Ross is one of the few who can carry a album by his own. Beats are top notch and yes he is repeated himself but he did a good job and kept it street and gangsta and fuck the haters who say Ross is FAKE i have news for you:
ice cube fake
nas fake
eminem fake
wayne fake
mobb deep fake
etc.
And never somebody is complaining about these rappers
Lol well said sir but your forgot the biggest fraud ever Jay-z aka joe the camel..
Cosign all them niggas is fake. Hov is reaL SO FUCK YOU CLIFF THE CAMEL.
Did you really say Ross is one of the few that can carry an album on his own? You must be trolling. Go through all his albums and I bet he easily has more features than songs.
this album relied heavily on big names from lil wayne, diddy, jay-z, jeezy, meek, kanye, big sean, scarface, french,
rely heavily on features like all of his albums. they’re all the same.
that joint w/scarface is seriously top 5 song of this yr so far…
its not a great album the beats are good no doubt but the lyrics kind ok not bad at all he just a rapper not a MC
had a listen – dont bother its awful
i would give this album 1 out of 10 – aint there any unreleased tupac joints in the vault – bring out some old school shit these new cats aint cutting it
this album is garbage – aint there no unreleased tupac-big joints left in the vaults
3/5, is fair. It’s not teflon don or port of miami. neither of those would I give a 5/5 either
beats out way the rhymes mafia 3 track is fire
well this album is straight doo doo and just like that shit sandwich jay Z dropped last year, it is impeccable on the production end but the rapping just kill it for me, if twas an instrumental only lp, it would be a classic, i give it a star just for that and that verse by Yeezus
all reviews are mixed, so dont blame HHDX
is aight… not the greatest thin ever but aight
Well this album isn’t good. The production great,but he has no lyrics follow suit. On another note, who ever wrote this review need’s to tone the vocab so everybody can understand what he/she is writing about.
I’m not even a big Rozay fan for obvious reasons but you’ve definitely hated on this album. Anyone that derides this album of its true worth, is lacking in objectivity. Truth be told it’s a good album, his second best after Teflon Don. The production is superb and he delivers where expected. Yes it’s no classic(we can’t expect such a feat from Rozay), but it’s also not a bad album. I’d give it a 4/5. Plus it’s way better than ScHoolboy Q’s Oxymoron.
This absolutely deserved a better rating than Schoolboy Q. DX really missed the mark on this review. Let an opinion that matters try next time.
Mastermind is Brilliant! Are reviewers paid to hate? They hate with such passion. Objectively this is one of Ross’ best albums. Anyone who discounts Ross’ lyrically ability is insane. The content is heavily focused on hustling, but that is exactly what I look for in a Ross’ album. You dont have to be a drug dealer to appreciate the content, its really just a hood version of a rags to riches story and ambition. You just have to re-purpose the content to your career to appreciate the hustle. I dont know why people are so upset about the content,
“its really just a hood version of a rags to riches story and ambition”
he never came from rags or the hood though
“lyrical ability”
Mastermind is garbage.
YEEZUS is brilliant.
That CD/Body of work is fire. It’s an excellent CD…
average albhum only thug cry track is worth listening rest wack
I like Teflon Don, but damn…his music got even better with God Forgives I Don’t. Ashamed, Maybach Music 4, Amsterdam, Presidential, Ice Cold, F*ckin U, Hold Me Back, Diced Pineapples, Ten Jesus Pieces ..are you serious? I haven’t heard Mastermind yet, but I’m sure it’s way better than what dude is talking. People holding on to that CO job he had at 19. Really need to quit.
Hop off the dick. Dude’s getting worse.
Super hott album no doubt! #DrugDealersDream #DDD
This is another one of those albums where I enjoy a lot of the production, but not a lot of the rapper.
This punk ass reviewer wanted it to be one way, but its the other way.
Album is a 4/5 at the least.
MARLO
I could almost gaurantee that if the album reviewer Sheldon Pearce actually listens to this album more than just the instant it was released his ‘opinion’ of Mastermind will change. Websites are so anxious to be the first to review an album that they don’t have the patience to absorb the music. This album has some darkness and insight to it and Ross. Sort of reminds me of Reasonable Doubt, in overall feel I mean. It’s doesn’t have a ratchet mix tape feel. That’s what mixtapes & Meek Mill are for. Pretty close to classic IMO.
Reasonable Doubt??? LMAAAAAOOOOOOO!!! I thought I heard it all.
my friend just got paid 5000 to give this album a 5 star rating in a popular English newspaper, ill give it a listen.
Rick Ross being fraudulent as always. Some nice rhymes here and there tho.
good not great album. on a few tracks id rather just hear the instramentals lol, namely war readu
If you say this is a bad album you’re a hater or you don’t know music!
the shyte is wack….I don’t hear not one turntable scratching
ehhhhh.. if you think this album is anything above average, you may just not ‘know music.’
im not a fan of ross, but when god forgives came out, i decided to give it a fair listen, and ended up liking it a lot.. but mastermind, not so much. god forgives has a unified sound, good track order.. seems like an actual album.
mastermind seems more like a loose, random collection of (mostly leftover) songs.. its all over the place, no focus.. theres enough good songs to make a solid EP, but way too much filler to be considered a good album.
and he has no content to his rimes…I heard him bite one of 50’s lines too….just a phat nigga rapping. the most disrespect was using Biggie’s beat….shame on you puffy….sucka
its not bad buts its not great either. most of the songs are weak
@Pauly
I know music and I have listened to the album for almost a week know and let it digest, I played it front to back on a car stereo system and I can give you an honest opinion.
This is a superb album and an improvement on GFID this album is more in the vein of TD with the bangers and less R&Bish with GFID, but it is not perfect and here is why:
Dope a bitch skit is just useless and nothing more than a shameless plug for Belaire and the Intro skit sounded goofy. Remove the skits and the album is 4.5.
If you are making a mix of your own then you can add Box Chevy, No Games, Oil money or
Oyster Perpetual.
4 out of 5
^^ groupie comment, what kind of speakers you got in your 2001 chevy bruthadee?
Terrible review. Good album.
terrible album, 4 good songs. good review
Great album horrible review
Great review, horrible album.
4/5 folks. Not Ross’s best album by any means but hes trying to continue to refine his sound. Teflon Don remains Boss’s best work. That Dope Bitch Skit is so stupid tho
Just left Metacritic and so far the are views are good their was only one negative review and that was from the LA times. This reviewer is horrible, he sucks and didnt delve enough into the album.
I gave it 4/5
no one cares bruh, go write your own review or comment on metacritic
Ive never seen a rapper benefit from production and features more then Rick Ross but thats just me
Production is the key to any good album and the production here is Flames! The features were murdered by everybody except that Migos guy and those irritating golddiggers on that intermission.
Another solid album from Ross, Im not the biggest Ross fan but he put together an impressive album that I believe is superior to Oxymoron. Im a musicHead so production means a lot to me and this album is three stars based on the production alone.
If you like fun music then this is a treat, if you want substance then we have to wait for Nas!
fun isnt the word that comes to mind when i think of Mastermind
Review on here is utterly horrid, I go to MetaCritic and read all the reviews combined so I can weed out the bias and get a more general consensus but at the end of the day my ears are what I go buy. This was a pretty dope album I enjoyed it more after the 5th and 6th listen as I was able to recite the hooks in unison and let it sink it, upon 1st listen I would have said a 3.5 but now its an easy 4.5 for my taste.
LMAO @ reciting rick ross hooks in unison.
You dont sing along to your music? That shit is a part of my culture, Im Black so yessir Im in the Ride hollin’ taht hook off Sactified like aint no tomorrow.
Certified banger, shit blew my speakers.
lol probably some shitty pc speakers
Rozays best album. Absolute classic! Mastermind > Teflon Don
Ross probably ducked when they laid the gun shots in his songs!
Pussy ass nigga hears them shots and drives into a wall scared but then he goes and puts gunshots all over his album like he’s about that shit. Nigga please.
haha funny shit
the wackness
heard this desperate ass nigga mentions 50 on the album but he aint say nothing when Gunplay’s chain was in that music video with Jeezy and Snoop.
aaahhh…..and it wasn’t a real diss b/c he’s shook
This negative review of an album I really like and enjoy is deeply affecting my life so I’m going to keep commenting about how bad this review is and maybe post some good reviews from other websites in the hopes of changing absolutely nothing.
I posted good reviews from other websites and it only effected your life enough that you felt compelled to comment about it while thousands of others didnt care enough to respond. Looks like I can effect your life easily.
damn a nigga caught feelings from that comment
GaaaaaaRBGe Azz Album if u think other wise
U defently groupie azz niggA but fake niggaz
Like dat fantasy rap shit give dat nigga a oscar
For playin all you fools listening to biggest fraud in da game!
YEEEZUS ALL DAY NIGGAS!!!!
WAR READY, MAFIA MUSIC 3, THUGS CRY, DEVIL IS A LIE.
I don’t really listen to anything else…
That NOBODY joint pisses me off listening to Ross try to steal Biggie’s flow, that shit is horrible.
metacritic got this shit at 70/100 now,
heres the projections, LMAO half of what j cole sold first week
Rick Ross (Def Jam/IDJ) 145-160k
Pharrell Williams (Columbia) 85-95k
Lea Michele (Columbia) 50-55k
Eli Young Band (Republic Nashville) 24-27k
American Authors (Mercury/IDJ) 21-24k
David Nail (MCA Nashville) 19-22k
Ashanti (eOne) 18-21k
Drive By Truckers (ATO) 12-15k
will this be rick ross lowest selling album?
could be his lowest FW sales yet if he doesn’t sell more than 158
Port of Miami 187k
Trilla 198k
Deeper Than Rap 158k
Teflon Don 176k
God Forgives I Don’t 218K
Mastermind 145-160k
phat boy said, deeper than rap, would outsell get rich or die trying….LMMMAAAOO!!!!!! get off of 50’s dick and stop biting his style. I see you phat boy….
Best Lyrics I heard with ‘Rick Ross’ in them:
This is a meeting of the minds
Combined to find and outline
The things needed to realign
Hip hops heart from being aligned
With sensational crimes.
Rick Ross rhymes.
Kris Kross lines and Cross out lies.
Learned lyrics led hip hops prime.
Now hip hops blind to fake bling
And media’s money-puppet-mimes,
I’m reading “Inbetween The Lines”
And dropping dimes.
Every master has an art.
Hip hop is mine. – Christiano Can
Animal Ambition will be ten times better…FACT!!!!!!!!!
musical taste is an opinion, not a fact
stfu u fraud…not one of his tracks is on the level of 50’s the funeral….and now he think he’s Biggie.
ten times as in the number of times it will be delayed before its released
cmon steal the camp lo shit damn they shark bitters album full of hip hop and rb remakes thats it sounds like a mixtape
he passing that shit off on his fans who dont know hip-hop history
Camp Lo said they felt honored to get some love, now they are all laughing at you.
of course those washed up bums would say that
MM 3 and a few other tracks but a 3.5 is accurate
not one track on this album fuckin with the funeral
wow.. So you actually think Led Zeppelin saw a girl taking a stairway to heaven? its called fucking art! this is why hip-hop is moving forward very slowly, not all artistic expression is based on real events/memories/whatever..
you are a fucking idiot.
Good album.
Yeezy verse was so old Yeezy i love it.
This album is a dedication to Black music during an era where artists attempt to stray away from traditional Black musical elements in favor of more trendy Europeon sounds but this album stays true to the foundation of traditional Black music without the experimentation, the pandering or the obligatory cross-over attempt and token features.
If you would have told me that a modern day HipHop album would have Betty Wright & Sizzla on it simultaneously I would have laughed in your face, even moreso if you added Keith Sweat and the criminally underrated Z-Ro, but those voices added some crucial sonic energy to this album that made it very enjoyable for me on that melodious vibe.
I cant ignore the R&B contributions that Kevin Cossum made on “Paradise Lost” and Teedra Moses made on “Nobody” and the beautiful Betty Idol made on “Thug Cry”, the harmonic elements from these talented but lesser know artists shouldnt be ignored.
The production on this album is absolutely incredible from Black Metaphors floating production on
“Rich is Gangsta” where he deftly flips the Average White Bands classic “Soul Searching” to Bink!s
and his Kingston Reggea dancehall masterpiece “Mafia Music III” complete with sirens, airhorns and lasers.
One of the early standouts on Mastermind is the Ross solo “Drug Dealers Dream” a stripped down menacing track with Ross painfully bellowing:
“Lord forgive these btches gettin their money strippin
chasin this fast money, next time we’ll do it different”
…the song serves as the perfect appetizer for the dramatic “Shots Fired” skit before the Notorious B.I.G inspired “Nobody” massages your eardrums with a nice concoction of sound but short on the greatness that made the original a classic.
The familiar tune “Devil is a Lie” with its pulsating Jazz horns and Soul swooning is another JayZ collab to add to the vault of JayZ and Ross collaborations,
“Fat Boy need a 10 piece…..”
The certified street-banger on Mastermind has to be the angry shootout-in-the-projects tune “WarReady” with MikewillMadeIt making fellow producer Lex Luger sound like Frank Ocean. Complete with gunshots, a looming bass line, triple snares and Jeezy laying his most murderous bars in years. The song success despite the slightly irritating Migos clone Tracy T who stutters over the hook like a dyslexic having a seizure while reading a text message from a street soldier.
“What A Shame” has an East Coast vibe due to the Camp Lo hook chanted by the always apt French Montana, the title being an ode to Ol Dirty Bastards classic “Shame on a nigga”. Brooklyn born producer Reefa is the brains behind this head-nodder but many listeners will be disappointed at the songs short length (2:04) that leads the listener hungry for more.
“Assasinate ya name, nigga spraying in the dark
hate you with a passion but he askin for a job”
(At about 7 songs in at around the midway point of the album you realize that Mastermind is solid but has an almost underlying East-Coast vibe to it.)
Scott Storch has definitely been soaking up those Miami sun rays because the bouncy “Supreme” feels like palm trees, white sand and Mojitos with a hilarious Katt Williams on the intro/outro and Keith Sweat taking us back to 80s, the song is a success and a refreshing change of mood from the serious overtones of the earlier songs. The chick in your passenger seat will want a few rewinds you have been warned.
“300 horses in this bitch, need a Jockey inside
false floor for firearms thats how you should ride”
“BLK and WHT” a slinking Bass line driven ditty from D-Rich where Ross channels his best Juvie impersonation, I have heard many people say this is one of their favorites but I thought it was decent, not one of my favorites even though it was interesting hearing Ross adopt a new flow.
“In Vein” is another hilarious example of The Dream hijacking a song and making it his own and leaving the rapper feeling like a guest on his own album, its a Dream song so of course its a high quality medly of sound xomplete with Rock guitars, a song that could easily be a chart topping radio hit if promoted properly, a definite standout jewell of R&B excellence.
“She give me brain, she a Mastermind to be exact”
If The Weekend (pun intended) gave us that Saturday at the club feeling then it only makes sense that Kanye West takes us into Church Sunday with a heavy dose of Gospel on Sanctified. A blasphemous
Big Sean hook on what is easily the best song on Mastermind shows you once again why Kanye is an egomaniacal genius and at his best when he stays home and gives us Drums and Soul. Ross gives us one of his more hilarious rhymes with:
“Bitches that I don’t don’t get degrees but they can dress
fellatio amazing, make grilled chees for you the best”
“Walkin on Air” is standard fare and a decent enough track but another D-Rich production with minimal and sparse production that just seems out of place on an album with such extravagant production but it will be a favorite amongst the trap fans and the hardHeads. Meek Mill does what Meek Mill does and it’s efficient if not impressive.
“Bought a bitch a hundred acres, all roses
lyou niggas Judas, I’m the son of Moses
Illuminated resurrected as Selassie
Bob Marley through the trumpets on the day I die”
No Ross album is a Ross album without Justice League production and with “Thug Cry” they saved the best for last, reworking a haunting Billy Cobham sample over spooky chords and crisp drums we get to hear
LiL Wayne sound like the Wayne we all loved before he got lazy, Ross doesent dissapoint and Betty Idol kills the hook. Its the perfect ending to the album because it isn’t a thudding or triumphant song but rather a mid tempo smooth track to send you on your way with a feeling of balance.
“Get the yellow tape it’s well orchestrated
200 acre estates a young nigga made it”
A solid and dope album, the obvious complaints will be a lack of substance and repetitive subject matter but Ross sticks to his formula and you know exactly what to expect when you hear Ross on a song.
Ross sounds spry and slick on the tracks but not as exuberant and jolly as he did on “Rich Forever” and I surmise that the trials and tribulations in his personal life contributed to the darker feel on Mastmind compared to the playboy vibe on GFID. Ross has his limitations as a lyricist but his husky baritone, adlibs, and emotion are good enough to keep you at attention
Nothing sweet, hippy, Pop or crossover on here just straight up Black music in a pure digestible form that you will enjoy most when you are with your people, play it loud in your car and in your home and enjoy it.
Production 9.5/10
Lyrics 7.5/10
Features 9/10
Skits 4/10
Packaging 9/10
Overall I give this album an 8.5/10 a few missteps but the Deluxe version with the inclusion of
“Blessings in Disguise and “Paradise Lost” make it a must purchase ro add to your collection.
You are a level 10 dickrider making up lies.
The album sounds good but it will sell according to climate.
Last year Wayne and Kanye didnt go Platinum so its impossible for Ross to sell as much as his last album.
Blog people care about sales more than they do the music itself, but that reminds me of how some people go straight to TMZ website instead of CNN, it just depends on your maturity and intelligence.
It grew on more than OXY but satellite is the AOTY.
the deffinition of bullshit
Ross might get another Grammy nomination, well according to the Sales projections from Complex it looks like Ross will have his 5th Number 1 album of his career. He did it.
Number 1 don’t mean shit. Kendricks album sold more first week than any of William Roberts album’s ever have and he only had a No. 2 album.
Number #1 means a lot to an artist, it’s something you add to your resume to make your Haters try to diminish and give excuses fir your success.
give me a platinum album over 5 “number 1’s” any day
^^ Is that you Vanilla Ice?
Ross is not getting a Grammy nom with this bullshit.
Shit album
I agree the mastering engineering on this fuckin sux it like someone is tone def. I only listened to some of 3 tracks and the beat was way to fing loud you could not hear Ross at all. This album and Ross whole career is just pathetic
Diddy mixed the album.
entertaining album with great production
Despite all the dick riding the numbers show that REAL STREET NIGGA have never and will never fuck with ross like that. Dude has never went gold first week. Has never shattered the charts with crazy numbers. Never been platinum. Niggaz rock with slim cause he nice i like his rap game just like plenty of niggaz do. But im not buying a fake nigga shit im not supporting a Whore nigga i just cant do it do a fucking whore no way i would ever buy this nigga shit and support a fake ass nigga. Ive brought bg’s albums to support a real nigga. i brought all beans albums cause he a real nigga. i brought fifty first second and last album cause he a real nigga. i brought all bucks joints cause he a real nigga. Im not putting my own money in a whore pocket aint no way
LOL okay bro we get it….
cause im sure you a real nigga you fake ass internet thug I dont like rick ross but not because of what he was its because he’s a no talent artist real hip hop heads no that and thats the real reason he wont go platinum or even gold ever again it has nothing to do with real niggas cause real niggas dont buy albums
Ross will never go platinum but neither will Lupe, J Cole or 99% of the rappers who drop albums, who needs to go platinum when you can make millions going Gold? Platinum been dead but props to MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice for going Platinum and proving that lyrical HipHop goes platinum and that platinum is based on talent.
Cole could go plat one day, Born Sinner sold 300k first week and well over 600k.. and he’s not that big of an artist
The OP sounds like a white boy pretending to be an ignorant Black person, but he overused the
N-word and made himself sound cartoonish, plus he left 10 other titangraphs like that, he must have been drunk or having emotional problems.
^^ look everyone it’s BruthaDee the over emotional middle aged Ross groupie
The album is fiery hot. Haters is salty that my man Rozay got another hit album under his belt. Great album that is slightly better than “God forgives I don’t” which was pretty good. Mastermind is a banger plain and simple period.
I just want my music heard thats all, im not looking for no record deal, getting famous ‘r anything like that.! so please just spare a few sec. to check me out, & if you like what you heard please SUBSCRIBE so ill know you actually listen & support
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaSNK0pm4eY
Catchy at first but I can’t sit through the whole album of this. Production is basically pop music. Rick Ross has a good sound but uses basically the same delivery on every track and doesn’t say anything that interesting. Are there any really standout verses?
Not a single standout verse. Not a bar worth rewinding. All that matters to Ross fan is the production. That’s all they talk about. Might as well make instrumental albums. Standards are getting lower and lower every year.
standout verse was from scarface on blessin in disguise
good
this album is whack
Smh I’m done… I’m literally not coming to this site anymore. Niggas is out of touch like a muthafucka. This album easily deserved a 4-4.5. Wtf do ya’ll listen to hiphop for? To hear some lame ass nigga stumble over big words he doesn’t understand? Don’t get it twisted… I’m a smart guy so that’s fun sometimes… But i like to hear hiphop that’s PUT TOGETHER WELL. That’s what this album is. From top to bottom every beat, every flow, and every feature is masterfully crafted. That’s what mastermind is about. Niggas have completely missed the point… And this ain’t the 1st time… Ya’ll stay fuckin over commercial album reviews… But what ya’ll fail to realize is that it’s good commercial albums like this one that keeps the genre going. dx is a part of the reason why hiphop is dying… No one respects the music anymore… The craft… Everybody thinks they’re a critic and they know what real hiphop is when hiphop will always follow the culture… Weather you faggots like it or not…
Last post
” Wtf do ya’ll listen to hiphop for? To hear some lame ass nigga stumble over big words he doesn’t understand?”
isn’t that Rick Ross?
smell ya later bitch nigga… lol im leaving this website forever cause you gave an album an unfavorable review! HAHA
I don’t need a review to tell me if an album is good or not.
10 good reviews, 3 mixed reviews and 1 bad review.
With Social Media so huge rappers dont even read critics reviews they just hashtag their album title and see what the people that DL it have to say.
Stop acting like you know what every rapper does. LMAO
They all read the fucking reviews or have their people do it for them.
This is the same as the rest of his albums
-production far outweigh the rhymes
-out shined by every feature
-every song is a fairytale
-severe lack of honesty in the music
-no growth
-he literally says the same shit on every song
-no substance or nothing of significance to rap about
This pretty much sums up every Ross album.
Really good album from fron to back
Crazy production
Street rhymes
Excellent features
Dope singing
Rozay is talking that talk, streets been giving this the thumbs up.
No, they ain’t.
I LOVED this album I just diidnt like that stupid Raggay song with the Jamaican guys.
rick rosss is that nigga!! album of the year
Its some good old school music, he just need to step it up a bit more lyrically
William Roberts is NOT Rick Ross tho…..
Oxymoron got a better Editor Rating and a better User Rating!
whack as usual
Eh. There are some bright moments but this album isn’t putting up a great fight for AOTY.
“Mastermind” is an incredibly apt name for the sixth Rick Ross album. It’s the name of a famous and long-running British quiz show where a brainy contestant sits on a black leather chair for a couple of minutes and is interrogated by the host on their chosen subject of knowledge. Once you’ve listened to this album a few times, you start to see that Ross, rather than create anything new, is effectively talking about his “chosen subject” for over an hour and dragging in anything/anyone within earshot to help him. He throws around Tupac quotes, Wu choruses, does a Biggie impression and trades bars with a guest list that goes into double digits. It may not be particularly original, but bizarrely enough, “Mastermind” ends up being arguably the best album of his career.
The problem is that it’s probably a couple of years too late. “God Forgives, I Don’t” was an instantly forgettable, overblown waste of time that sapped the steam from Ross’ impressive career arc. In an ideal world, “Mastermind” would have been his fifth – a long play with no real singles, consistently excellent production, catchy choruses aplenty and surprisingly little filler. It’s clearly designed to garner your respect, and as long as you don’t analyse it too deeply, it should succeed. Dig a little deeper (than rap), and the weak points of the entire Rick Ross propaganda story surface once again – it’s just that in 2014, his stubborn refusal to go away and decent level of artistry/lyricism mean that his audience is far more forgiving than it used to be. To put it another way, since 50 Cent’s last meaningful work (“Curtis” in 2007), Rick Ross has released five albums, with every one finding his target audience and selling healthily too (assuming this one doesn’t buck the trend).
A promising first track (“Rich Is Gangsta”) would ordinarily lead into a gigantic single, but such a song simply doesn’t exist on “Mastermind” – so instead we get a surreal double whammy of an imaginary “Drug Dealer Dreams” and Biggie homage/rip-off “Nobody”. The latter initially has you yearning for Gorilla Black to make a comeback as Rick’s impression seems rather lacklustre, but it does grow after a while. Still, there is no substitute for originality and the clear lifting doesn’t ultimately do Ross many favours. The prerequisite Jay Z duet is decent enough, but is followed by the superb “Mafia Music III” – featuring a perfect instrumental from Bink! alongside a brilliant assist through the mighty Mavado. Ironically enough, it’s the kind of beat you could actually imagine a modern day Biggie Smalls rhyming over, but Ross doing Ross straight nails it.
Apparently the MMG head honcho and Young Jeezy had issues (seriously, after a while you just tune it all out) but they have now “quashed” it. The result is alright but about as noteworthy as their initial beef. French Montana returns to help Ross in his “Hip Hop Karaoke” quest to go all ODB over “What A Shame”; the strange combination of fake cocaine dealer Rick Ross with fucking huge cocaine addict Scott Storch on “Supreme” veers into filler territory; “BLK & WHT” fares better, mainly owing to a clever chorus, but Ross doesn’t ride the tempo particularly well. After the ladies section (skit + The Weeknd track), the riotously enjoyable Big Sean and Kanye West track “Sanctified” really doesn’t need Ross popping up at the end (harsh, but fair). Meek Mill and Lil Wayne help close the standard version of the album off relatively well (even if Ross forlornly asking if “thugs cry” just sounds Razzie-worthy). The deluxe version is, for once, totally worth your money – without ruining any potential surprises for you, just know that Scarface is worth the admission price alone.
In the end, your thoughts on “Mastermind” will rely less upon your taste, and more on your stance. I’ve never been much of a Rick Ross “fan” – I can certainly appreciate his qualities, and various songs/verses have temporarily won me over. This album is surely his most consistent from start to finish, and in that respect it’s probably his most enjoyable to date. It’s just that the level of fabrication involved in almost every song FOR ME undermines the very foundations upon which his story is based. Putting that to one side, there are clear strengths (beats, hooks, sequencing, no reliance on singles) and obvious weaknesses (certain verses, feeling like a guest on his own album, borrowed subject matter and, ironically, no actual singles). His hardcore army should love it; casual rap fans should find more than a passing interest; and those who only get on board due to big singles will probably barely realise this was even released. Saying all that, you know that “Rating” button in iTunes, where you attribute one to five stars to a song? When push comes to shove, there are only about three songs here that merit that kind of mindshare – and none of those come close to his best singles. By his standards, “Mastermind” is technically a good album, but neither timely nor memorable.
Music Vibes: 7 of 10 Lyric Vibes: 6 of 10 TOTAL Vibes: 6.5 of 10
Mastermind finds him slipping from character into caricature.
When hes not falling flat on bad puns, hes busy hawking his Wingstop restaurants lemon pepper chicken wings.
When Masterminds not clinging to famous friends, its thrashing at 90s classics for direction.
Hes badly in need of reinvention after running out of recipes for his gangster shtick, but hes too set in his ways to change direction six albums in.
the moments where Mastermind gives us William Roberts the man instead of Rick Ross the gangster flick composite character with the borrowed name are scarce, and he remains committed to dialing in good life platitudes that increasingly ring hollow. Mastermind finds Ross at a Truman Show moment: his characters reached the logical end of its universe. Going forward, he can either break out or keep up a jig he knows that we know is way past expired.
More like 2.5X’s by the sounds of this review.
Dope album! Supreme, Mafia Music 111, Thug Cry, Rich Is Gangsta, War Ready, Devil is a Lie…
How can people listen to this clown?!?!? Imposter, cop
DX is taking a turn for the worse. The current editorial staff has is not on par with how DX used to be.
The album has good music that you can knock in your ride. The editors hate this album, but they love Yeezus, which was terrible. You give Yeezus 4.5, and give Ross 3????
your actually a tool man, yeezus was a masterpiece … comparing it to fuckin mastermind by officer ricky is a fucking disgrace to hip hop
Cosign. I don’t know if their screening process is effed up now or what, but I used to respect DX’s reviews as the realest out of all hip-hop sites but they are fallin off harder than SOHH.
I bash Ross all the time, but anyone who thinks this album isnt packed with a SLEW of bangers something is wrong with your ear.
“. The current editorial staff has is not on par with how DX used to be. ”
hip-hop is not up to par with how it used to be
cant wait till this clown dies or some shit… what a fucking actual piece of garbage this dude is for still trying to convince people he even pushed dime back in the day..
wishing death on someone, fuck you fuckbag fuckface fucker
Wow the haters are out, good music is good music been listening to hiphop since 80s. If you can’t rock to this please let me hear your music, your concepts, what you bring to the table of the game. One of his best joints hands down.
I bring my ears and what I hear is just like the review said (same repetitive stuff from Ross) shit starts to lose appeal eventually. Have to evolve as an artist.
I don’t usually comment on shit I don,t really like but what the f r people still doing with puff daddy ? You done lost already having him on your stuff . Listen these cats might be able to get away with that fake ass versace , gold rope chain swinging , drug dealing , fast car driving and every bitch in the world want to fuck em shit in the 90’s but its 14 and that stuff is played . These cats are just actors , with a whole bunch of people behind them . There whole persona is made up in a boardroom with people around a table. They push products and pawn it off on society , making people think that , that is the way to live. Everybody is a tough guy too , this fool been done . Commercial ass rappers like this fool r nonsense .
only substance fat boy has is the stuff he puts in girls drinks to trick them into having sex with him
LMAO!!! Put a Molly in her champagne and didn’t even know it.
good review
Beats are crazy good, but when every single featured artist outperforms you on your own album, it’s kind of over. I still enjoyed listening to it though.
That sums up every Ross album
this album is trash
Didn’t like it.
No.
What? That wasn’t a good enough answer for you? What more do you need to know? You’re really gonna make us get into this??? Ughhh. OK fine.
Over the last few days we’ve received a few angry emails and comments from Celebrity Net Worth visitors who believe our estimate for Rick Ross’ net worth is way too low. We currently have Mr. Ross at $28 million. Not exactly a pittance, but according to the angry emails, this number should be raised to $92 million. More precisely, they think the number should be raised to $92,153,183.28. Where are people getting this number? None other than Ricky Rozay himself! Here’s what’s going on
On March 3, 2014, Rick Ross released his sixth studio album “Mastermind”. The third track of the album is called “Drug Dealers Dream”. Not to be picky, but the word “Dealers” in that song title should technically be “Dealer’s”. That’s a possessive noun. This track starts out with an audio recording of one of those automated voices reading a bank checking account balance. The automated voice dryly states: “Please hold while I locate your information. Your checking account balance is $92,153,183.28. This reflects the most current information available on your account.”
Clearly the implication here is that Rick Ross called up his bank, selected the option to check his account balance and then recorded the results. All $92 million worth of results. But is this possible? Could Rick Ross really have this much money sitting in checking? Is he following the Floyd Mayweather savings and investment plan? (A few months back, Floyd Mayweather showed a reporter his ATM receipt that had a checking account balance of $125 million.) Or is this just a run-of-the-mill rapper exaggeration?
First off, if somehow this brag is true, keeping $92 million in a checking account would be a colossally stupid way to allocate money. Checking accounts might AT MOST earn around 0.50% interest nowadays. The national average is probably closer to 0.10%. Splitting the difference, Rick would be earning just $184,000 in interest per year off his massive wealth. That’s not nothing, but as any basic financial planner would explain, taking the money out of checking and putting it into mutual funds, ETFs, maybe a few stocks, should conservatively be able to yield a 5% rate. That would bring Mr. Ross $4.6 million a year from interest alone. If he got lucky with the right hedge fund, Rick might be looking at $10-$15 million.
The second big problem with keeping that much money in checking is the fact that only $500,000 is insured by the FDIC. If Rick’s bank goes under, which as well know isn’t exactly impossible nowadays, Rick’s money would evaporate overnight without any recourse.
Ok so we’ve established that keeping $92 million in checking is clearly a bad idea. The more important question is whether or not Rick Ross actually has $92 million in the first place. Our current estimation of Rick’s net worth is $28 million. That number might go up in a few weeks when we release our annual list of the richest rappers on the planet, but we’re talking about a bump of maybe $5-6 million. Definitely not $62 million. Don’t trust us? Well according to Forbes, which we think is a little too conservative with their estimates, Rick earned $6 million in 2012 and $9 million in 2013. That’s a grand total of $15 million during what were arguably Rick’s peak earning years to date.
Let’s also keep in mind that in order to have a checking account balance of $92 million, Rick would conceivably needed to earn a little less than twice that amount before taxes. And that’s before he spent a dime on cars, jewelry, houses, private jets, vacations and biggest expense of them all for Rick: Food. Even if Rick was the most penny-pinching saver in the world, we’re still talking about $200-$250 million in earnings over the last 3-4 years, in order to be left with such a gargantuan bank account. Unfortunately, this isn’t reality. Even for Mr. Maybach Music himself.
In conclusion, it’s pretty safe to say that this is simply one rapper making an extremely over-exaggerated brag.
if he’s so rich i dont see why he couldnt just use his actual account balance. im sure it’s still impressive and more than all his listeners have but liars got lie.
Great album
This humble, giving man took me off the streets of Carol City, FL where I was homeless & hungry. I had just lost my job working at Wendy’s and took residence at a shelter. Rick Ross was holding a songwriting contest in his area; the prize was a ghostwriting deal worth one million dollars. I decided to enter just on a whim, but in the back of my mind I figured I wouldn’t win. So I wrote some lyrics, mailed in my entry, and waited. A week later, the winner of the contest was announced on 106 & Park and I was absolutely floored. The next day I was eating soup at the city mission when one of the staff told me I had a visitor; it was Rick Ross. He simply said “Come with me” and I was left speechless as we entered his limo. We drove off to the studio in Miami, where we recorded Port of Miami, and the rest is history. From that day forward, I became Rick Ross’ most trusted ghostwriter & closest confidante.
By the way, this is another phenomenal, star studded piece of work from Rick Ross the boss. Stellar production, sharp & witty rhymes, and star studded guest appearances. 5/5 #bawse
you belive his story ahah you a fool
That (true) story is genius. It’s from the intro to “Million$z Made Daily, N*ggaz” ( a little-known but highly sought after bootleg of rozay outtakes, champagne-induced booth bloopers and entertaining protools fuckups ).
Teflon Don was the shit, last two were kinda shitty
Truuu
Every Rick Ross has been a timeless classic so far, and I should know because I’m one his ghostwriter and one of his closest confidantes.
Riiiiiight. Why should we believe you, Ross fanboy?
I’m not a fan of Rick Ross but I did enjoyed “Mastermind” even though it was mostly fictional as usual yet the production is a top notch and unique to his braggadacio lyrics about being a drug baron,owning the most advanced technology cars that are expensive like Rolls Royce,and balling with the baddest bitches. It has become his specialty and he seems to thrive on that, only this time he is out to prove to his haters and critics that he is wealthier than they assume by telling us how much he has in his accounts,how many chicken wings joint he owns and his purchase of mansion that was owned by Evander Holyfield. Those are things he keeps talking about throughout the album which is understandable to most of the critics that find it repetitive and boring. He may not able to sell platinum like Jay Z and not as good as Nas and Eminem when it comes to lyrics and technique but one thing he is good at is that he has perfected formula of making coke rap hits with a unique lushful production. But how long is that formula going to last before he becomes irrelevant. 3.5/5
This music is for the streets so if you not from it stay on the fucking sidewalk homie….yadig!!!!!
Streets my ass!
this music is for the burbs
@Anon3
Co-sign.
LAWSE!!!
Truth will set you free… Except nobody wants to listen to an album about being a CO
ALL these rappers lying and shit! Dont get mad cuz Ross is good at it. None of these rappers really into that dope shit. If so, they wouldn’t be rapping, they would SELL DOPE! Respect this album! Shit motivates me and SLAPS HARD IN THE CAR.
the thing is he isnt good at it, his lies are so blatant no one believes a thing he says. i just laugh
Schoolboy Q’s album had 70 more people rate his album than this one… interesting
Who is Bruthadee?
40 year old MMG groupie who takes pictures of himself inside his car with long ass fingernails to post on his IG for a bunch of niggas, would drink the sweat out of rozay’s ass crack for a chance to shake the mans hand.
this is trash
i feel like he’s just been tryin’ to remake Teflon Don for the past two albums now
this shit’s just disappointing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLn1r1Ig0TI
The jury is in, the burbs are all over this shit but the hood and the streets ain’t feeling it.
Still Rick Ross put together a hefty album.
So far my list this year Oxymoron My Own Lane, Paranoia of Success, Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon Pharrell’s G I R L isn’t bad. Future has a album dropping that may make the list.
Nigga you listen to some wack music. lol
Just stop it. Garbage.
garbage album
one of his weaker efforts. starts off hot then as it goes on the air just gets let of the balloon…
garbage
Ricky is garbage
i’m a rick ross fan, but this album is wack.
im a hiphop fan and this album is wack
please retire from making music
Dope Album, Close to Teflon Don.
Letdown year for “big” releases. This and Schoolboy q are meh.
rick ross runs the rap game with drake
Ross is no where near running anything or close to Drake.
Drake sells more first week than Ross sells in 2 years.
Drake sells out stadiums and arena’s while Ross fails to fill small theaters.
Ross runs nowhere. Have you seen a picture of him? M’aiq saw him on a plane and he purchased 3 tickets for 1 seat
Arguments about who is running the game Ross or Drake, only proves how fucked up Hip Hop really is… its not DEAD… but definitely on LIFE SUPPORT!
Dam and I thought Drake was an R&B singer???
trash album
Compared to God Forgives I Don’t, this is actually entertaining to listen to. Minus the fiction, it’s a basic and safely played good effort. 3/5
I was expecting maybach V . What happened to it
fire!!!!!!
It’s
The Reviewer wasn’t a music person his whole review was about his personal feelings for Ross and not the music.. SMH and he still gave it a 3 so go figure. Critics gave it majority good reviews but fans seem to really like it.
this review was whack and Mastermind was definitely a solid album for todays standards. its not better than Freddie Gibbs and YG’s album but its definitely better than Schoolboy Q’s. I feel like this is biased due to it being Rick Ross
Shit is wack, period.
xcv
Damn…. I listened to the Jeezy song ans dismissed this as shit but usually Ross makes at least decent music. This shit is fire. Not one skippable song, War Ready is forgettable and is something I feel like Ive heard before. The rest is pure Hip-Hop and Ross talking shit. Production is top notch and I even enjoyed the skits. To bad this will either be forgotten or hated on without actually being listened to.
Best SongS:
Walkin On Air
Sanctified
In Vein
Thug Cry
Supreme
Rich Is Gangsta
Blessin in Disguise
The Devil Is A Lie
the song Mastermind by Nas is better than this whole album.
Thank you!!!! Real opinions…. not by minions!
U r rocking the word boss. Salu e by my side.
this album is not bad at all! I hate dx album reviewers
wack. rick ross’s persona as this bigger than life drug dealer are finally played out. his rhymes offer nothing than a glorified fantasy ross has played out in his mind since watching over real drug dealers and killers during his time as a correction officer. rick ross knows how to put a song together but his lyrics offer nothing than regurgitated rhymes from previous albums. if you like top notch production than this album is for u, but for real hiphop heads looking for something more than a wannabe drug king pin who was on the other side of the law once in his life, this album offers nothing.
Well said.
There is HOPE for the future! Thank you!
The dude that wrote the review for this album clearly doesnt understand the culture, he also forgot its music and entertainment. A documentary is rarely as entertaining as a great action flik. With that said, for true hiphop fans a track like Nobody is incredible, a powerfull chorus with intense verses that bring back that 90s B.I.G. flavor and style. War Ready with Young Jeezy which if you followed the history of thw 2 rappers you would understand the main point of releasing the song and what it means to hiphop. Those 2 guys could had guys coming at each other instead they chose to put their history aside and come together and make gangsta as fucking track. Tha mafia boss thing is Rick Ross all the way, its his style, and hes an entertainer. Are you going to tell country singers to stop wearing cowboy hats and denim jeans? Prolli not, its entertainment, and the album is entertaining. Not to mention he couldve taken a very raw route with it but why not make it like a movie, i dont wana hear basic gun talk, i like for it to sound good.
PLEASE STOPPPPP THE MADNESSSS!!!
Rick Ross does NOT DEFINE MY CULTURE!!! you fucking crazy
I am HIP HOP, born and bred.. my culture is defined by:
Talib Kweli
Nasir Jones
Mos Def
Common
OutKast
Dead Prez
Little Brother
Jay Electronica
Skyzoo
J Cole (yes J Cole)
and Slautherhouse
@NYC them niggas you mentioned suck. They be spitting pure garbage juice.
His first 3 albums was just off the chain and he wont top those, just like any other rapper. the only rapper that got better with the more albums they made is 2pac. Any of those are classic. how many rappers you know like that.
New 50 Cent music!! Check out the link!
http://www.jamplify.com/ca72f6
How is this dude going to rap about being a drug king pin when he was in no way, shape or form ever anything close to being a top figure in the drug trade? How he has made a career out of this and this is his sixth record is mind boggling. People are SO stupid! This isn’t a judgment on the type of music people like because I enjoy some gangster rap but I just feel that this dude is the biggest joke in the world and can’t believe he has made money and continues to make money off this.
its entertainment….notto mention, unless you were side by side with him every step of the way from the day he was born you will never know just how well connected he is to the streets.
I agree with both opinions. But it is weird to see a former member of law enforcement glorifying the drug cartels in Miami when he was an overseer of those in-humane prisons in Miami… yes I have been locked up and I swear Rick Ross beat me down a few times… maybe that’s why I hate him. Dade county prisons are as bad as slavery!
rick ross is the inspiration for anyone to be a rapper, I could live comfortable working as a C/O theres no way you could convince me he’d risk it to sell coke on the side
master of hits, rozay, six no.1 LPz in a row damn
I feel like educating people today… If you are basing your opinions about Rick Ross based on album sales you should know that Def Jam/ Universal (and all majors) purchase anywhere from 500,000 – 1 Million albums on pre order to ship out and guarantee the artist is no. 1 on the charts for that week or month… the sales are not real until ALL THOSE albums are resold… and that is why some artist go broke because if your album is not sold back someone will end up owing all that money… some contracts state the artist has to buy back those albums
Another come and go album. no timeless songs yet for ross. “hit” songs but for ross to have so many dope albums noone ever quotes his bars.
Hustlin is first of all a classic hit and clearly you havent listened to the song NOBODY that shit is pure, he embraces the culture in every way with that record
Where can I find faithful minions like this… or should I just call them peons
@Yup I agree 1,000,000% … In my opinion Ross has NEVER made a timeless song… (maybe Free Masons with Jay)… now watch all the minions say what about Hustlin??? Do you still listen to that shit? There’s your answer!
“clearly you havent listened to the song NOBODY that shit is pure, he embraces the culture in every way with that record”
brah you know that was a Biggie song he basically just copied right? What part of the culture is that?
the editor of this article on mastermind is a fool…how can you explain something bigger than your thoughts.Pls get in to the studio and wax an album, lets see how good u can be?
I put money he is better than Ross
Wow the writer definitely doesn’t like Ross lol. If you listen to this 1x you’re not going to like it. I loved all the religious references. Took me back to deeper than rap. There was 3 tracks that was a no to me, ‘what a shame’ was one of them. I would give this a 4/5
SMH dickrider.
How dare this incompetent write slander Rick Ross? Does Sheldon Pearce know what the fuck he’s talking about? What a fucking idiot. It seems like they’ll give ANYONE a job as a journalist. Fucking dumb ass. Evidently he’s never heard of poetry or classical music for that matter. Whenever I’m listening to Ross, I feel the need to play his music over and over again because his songs are very deep and they cater to the human emotions. Not only that, his uncanny ability to pick superb beats matches his witty and profound lyrics. I suggest that Mr Sheldon Pearce cleans the excess earwax out of his ears and ACTUALLY listens to Mastermind a few more times because he’s missing out on a grand musical experience. I give the album a perfect 5 out of 5 and the review gets an unsatisfactory 1 out of 5.
yoooo do you work for Ross?? you would have to be pretty fucking ignorant to be able to listen to ANY Rick Ross song “over and over”. Are you some type of crack addict that just enjoys hearing how dealers spend your money? Or are you a stripper in the club that loves them 1s? Cause other than that… HOW ON EARTH CAN YOU LISTEN to RICK ROSS on REPEAT??? SMFH in disgust… than want to attack a man for his opinions… sorry but you need to be drop kicked in the face.
Ok.. just read more and now I know your a publicist… makes sense now. Ross is the absolute worst thing in Hip Hop right now. 5 out of 5???? LMAO… I think the 1 out of 5 the writer gave is a little bit more believable… don’t you?
Actually, gents, I am a ghostwriter for Rick Ross as well as his closest confidante & friend.
you his bottom bitch
CLASSIC. The writer just wants to see him fail. He probably listens to EDM or some gay shit
PILOT SNIPPET-http://vk.com/hiphop_and_rnb?w=wall-47681870_14172
great article by the way!!!! I mean he only talks about Mastermind in 4 out of 6 paragraphs… and still these foolish minions attack him for being biased to Ross and judging the album based on his personal feelings to the big ol’ tub of lard. LOL… sorry!
To b straight, Amateurmind is what my view of ur new album. This album def gives a damage to ur luxury name n career. Ya been built da imagine like ‘Real Boss’ so far but this not gon help for that. Lack of the grand sound by Justice League, ‘In Vein’ is actually Weeknds song, ‘Walkin On Air’ is Meek Mills and ‘Sanctified’ is for good music. No shit is urs. FMontana killed his part is jst a good thing. Loose, borin, nothin cool. Srsly bfor u puffing ur money azz, bfor ur appealin gangsta yaself, jst b a true musician and hope u not call yaself ur a rapper wit this album. This album is def disappointed. I wanna ask “How many boss in this album n who da fuckin boss” Ya been this game for alot yrs but how could u be gettin worst like Mercedes aint make Maybach no more. 20$ is nothin but I spent for meaningless colorful empty CD thing. Sucks.
-Send from far Asia as ur big listener.-
The real rick ross is not a rapper. Ross and Drake both lie, how can you respect that. Not only liars, but ross was a CO, worse than a cop.
This review sucked…the reviewer just wants to call Ross a fraud…talk about the music!
Pick any of Top 4 tracks on Mastermind, and play them against any Top 5 on GFID or Rich Forever…even Teflon Don. They sound like album leftovers: demos, incomplete ideas that are yet to be serviced. The reviewer’s argument is 100% legitimate on both points: The apex of Rick Ross’ presentation was on Rich Forever, and the themes are unimaginative and reduced in relevant appeal. Excellent review talking about the album’s theme compared to the artist’s proposition, and previous works.
If that’s your opinion, then you’re an even bigger idiot than the reviewer. Ross tackles topics such as paranoia (Nobody), religion(Sanctified), and racism(BLK & WHT). Listen a little more closely to the album.
Rick Ross represents everything that is wrong with hiphop today and why its on a steady decline in terms of originality and real skill. The most common point about Rick Ross that Ross supporters will say is that “its just entertainment, it doesn’t matter what he says he’s just an entertainer.” That argument by most Ross supporters proves why hiphop is headed away from authenticity and into the realm of actors turned studio gangsters. With the emergence of Rick Ross, a proven florida government correctional officer turned into the larger than life drug dealer on par with the Pablo Escabars and El Chapo’s, record companies have finally been given the blueprint on how to coach and transform someone into a phony street gangster on wax.
Now adays and from these years forward, forget about ever arguing with anyone about who’s the realest; forget about it. Ross’s lyrics about dealing 100k keys of cocaine, being in the medillian, and all the bafoonery he raps about in albums are imagined delusions he’s had for his entire life since leaving his job as a florida correctional officer. Hot beats have become confused with hot tracks, the image of Rick Ross has been taken by a confused public as okay so long as he makes a hit record. Does being real for an artist count anymore? Def. not, and for those looking for an authentic street artist to represent what goes on in the streets from the perpesctive of a real street gangster is gone. What we will be left with is rappers who glorify street elements they either never lived or had a late start on, and their supporters who will claim rap is nothing but entertainment and who cares whos real or fake. The consumers can blame themselves for the downfall of real rap, anyone listening to Rick Ross jamming thinking he’s so great just understand you are the reason Nas said hiphop is dead.
The new generation doesn’t care about keeping it real. Drake been exposed..nobody cares…
Kendrick lamar disses everyone…everyone he disses stays on his dick…All these fake street kids get exposed….nobody cares….
its strictly about the music for the new generation…and the music isn’t even original or good like it use to be
nice album, he is not a great poet, but he have a good taste.
Bad. 1/5
A few good songs, rest are horrible
Album was not worth the money… But then again when is a Rick Ross album worth the money??? He never goes platinum so that explains everything!!!
drake rick ross nicki manaj lil wayne all run the rap game now deal with it broke virgin haters
Best Album Ever #MasterMind
I like it #5Stars
The fraud artist has run out of moves, polish up that badge Ricky
This fat piece of stinkin shit needs to retire
ppl really voting this trash cd 5 stars lol?
I get the whole coke rap thing and most people who don’t be with that life won’t understand the hussle. Rick is just making up his rhymes to relate to the streets and 9-5pm workers. That’s the music that drives Ricky I’m not his biggest fan but I read the post and giving a fair review of what his message is about on most and on this album it comes in under value for reply. As a hussler go geter I like how he uses the rap lyrics but it’s not Ricky for real and I’m sure that is what is pissing off people that it’s not real so why would you want to support fake rapper but the raps are real it’s just not on Rickey’s level. Looking forward to cam’ron new LP and new Dipset album.
A mediocre album. Most tracks were awful IMO I would give it a 2.5/10 thats just my opinion though a lot of bad hooks and simple verses the only songs that I enjoyed was War Ready,Devil Is a Lie and Thug Cry with Drug Dealers Dream the rest solid or awful
This is Rick Ross how we love him
speak for yourself
Still enjoying Mastermind
BEST ALBUM OF ALL TIME MASTERMIND>ILLMATIC>MMLP1>CHRONIC….
RICK ROSS HAS RE INVENTED RAPPP MASTERMIND!!!!!!
Same old ish from this saggy tit officer
Ross is just shit
Shit album
4/5…stop hating. Its Classic Ross
I enjoy this album even though he’s the fakest rapper alive I think the dudes got a killer voice for rap and his beats are heavy