In an exclusive interview with HotNewHipHop, Rick Ross revealed that he left Epic Records following his eleventh studio album, Richer Than I Ever Been, released in December 2021. The Miami rapper, who’s now a free agent, plans to drop two albums this summer while considering other label offers.
“I got huge offers on the table right now. Huge, huge offers. Conversation with Def Jam. Everybody,” Ross explained. “Everybody wants to be in business with Ricky Rozay. They know when Ricky Rozay wants to make music, I make the best music. When I want huge collaborations, it’s easy. I don’t even gotta text n****s. I can have my homies DM a n***a.”
With ten top-charting albums and 17 platinum-certified singles, Ross has proven to be one of the hardest-working individuals in the Hip Hop industry. However, the 46-year-old disclosed surprising details regarding his newfound independence, saying, “It ain’t a different situation for me cause I already owned all my sh**.” In addition, the Maybach Music Group founder credits how he approached his musical career when he first signed to Slip-in-Slide records in the early 2000s.
“When I first came in the game, I just wanted a record deal. But guess what, once I released my first album, I began renegotiating right then,” Ross recalled. “And I’ve got to salute Ted Lucas, the CEO of Slip-N-Slide records who I was signed to for my first six albums. Before I even made it to my last albums, I had damn near owned everything that I could own, other than a certain distribution percentage. Once you become successful — regardless of what you signed at first — you just come sit at the table like a man.”
He continued, “A good businessman gon’ understand that, like ‘Homie, you just did something I never even expected.’ And guess what, I did it every album. I asked for more, and I did it on both sides — not just with my record label but also with my attorneys. ‘Hey man, I was giving you give X amount of percentage on my first album; let’s cut it down to 12. On the next, let’s cut it to 8. Let’s get it to 5.’ That go for everybody. You renegotiate because you learning as you go. Before every album, that’s what you go sit down and say, ‘Hey man, I gotta ask for something I ain’t never had. I’m finna do something I ain’t never done before.’”
Aside from his music-related business endeavors, the “Aston Martin Music” artist has an extensive list of things he is determined to accomplish, such as becoming a shareholder of the Miami Heat and establishing an African branch of his record label, MMG Africa.
“We’re so talented,” Ross said as he remembered his trip to Africa. “I went out to watch some unsigned, underground artists out there, and when I tell you, the music was so dope. The fashion looked like it was two years in advance, and you would have never fucking imagined it. That’s when I realized I got to sign some artists over here. Because this is exciting, this is different. This sh** got a bigger purpose.”
According to The Jasmine Brand, the Miami native also has a new non-scripted television show airing on BET. The series name and release date have yet to be announced.
Check out the full interview with HNHH below.
Introducing our latest digital cover issue, "@RickRoss' Grand Perspective" 📰
Read it here 🗞️: https://t.co/F08qlEYzI3 pic.twitter.com/cKQ0fsozGX
— HotNewHipHop (@HotNewHipHop) May 23, 2022
