At this point in his career, William Leonard Roberts II, better known as Rick Ross, can easily claim that he has a good number of fans. He’s had multiple gold selling albums, a well publicized feud with the king of feuds, 50 Cent, and he’s just recently taken his label, Maybach Music Group to Warner Bros. Records. He’s done quite a bit in the 5 short years since he burst onto the scene with the hit “Everyday I’m Hustlin”. It’s something that he’s tried to live up to and keep at the forefront of his music. Adopting the persona of a big Miami kingpin, Rick Ross constantly wins, constantly succeeds, and there is no stopping him. If the music is to be believed. If you look at his track record, you can see that he definitely has reasons to make such statements. Now, he’s attempted to top everything he’s done in the past, with the move to Warner Bros.
For a while, it seemed as though Maybach Music Group wasn’t going to be a force in the industry. The power of the Triple C’s group wasn’t felt too well. After all, the debut record of the group, Custom Cars & Cycles did not do the numbers that everyone at the label thought and hoped that it would. It wasn’t obvious what the problem, but Ross knew that something had to be done. So he took a little bit to concentrate on his next solo album, what would become Teflon Don.
After the release and promotion of an album that was almost flawless, Rick Ross has turned his attention back to his label. He’s signed a slew of new people. One of his best additions so far has been the D.C. rapper, Wale. Wale’s already had an album out and has had a few mild hits on the mainstream. His mixtapes though have given him acclaim, and a recent feature on Waka Flocka’s No Hands has done nothing but help. Wale gives Rick Ross his more introspective and conscious rapper on the label. I’m not saying that Ross is trying to follow a formula, because a formulaic label, like a formulaic album, well, it isn’t played out, it’s just plain dumb to do at this point. In this day and age of artists wearing multiple fitteds of rapper, producer, CEO, marketer, Wale’s going to represent more than just a one topic artist for Ross. He’s going to complement another of the artists on the label very well, namely Pill.
Pill, a rapper from Atlanta, has been on the grind for a few years now. He’s been in the Source in the Unsigned Hype section, as well as XXL, first as part of the Show and Prove section and later as one of their Freshmen for 2010. He brings the streets to MMG, something that the label already has an abundance of in the form of Rick Ross and the rest of the Triple Cs. His 1140: The Overdose mixtape was damn good, to say the least. Which brings us to Meek Mill, who rounds out the group. If you don’t already know who he is, you should probably work on that, and that’s real talk. He’s got songs and he’s been repping Philadelphia heavy. He brings yet another flavor to Maybach Music Group.
For the label, which before this was restricted to South Florida for it’s sound, these signees are diversifying the label very well. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ross looks to the West coast next. With the MMG compilation album Self Made announcement, Rick Ross is preparing to strike while the fire’s hot and not hold anything back. This album is going to be important to cement the new MMG and the choices musically on this compilation album are going to be critical. Every last track, every producer, every feature, every song theme.
All are crucial, because of how the first Triple C’s album did. I'm hoping that Wale's relationship with Mark Ronson stays strong and that they can bring him in to work on the album. They also need to get a track with Ryan Leslie, and definitely need to keep the working relationship that Rick Ross has with J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League strong. One of the weaknesses from the Triple C's Album was the production. Despite some top notch names, the beats seemed mailed in, as if Ross took the good ones from the beat CDs for himself, and let the rest be used on that album. Speaking of which, one wonder’s what’s going to happen to the Triple C’s group itself. Torch, Gunplay, and Young Breed.
One thing is for sure though. Rick Ross is starting to make sure that the “untouchable” tagline that he puts in all of the Maybach Music Group’s videos is truly deserved.
