Deeper Than Rap Explained

Deeper Than Rap
Type:studio
Artist:Rick Ross
Cover:Deeper than rap.jpeg
Released:April 21, 2009
Recorded:2008–2009
Genre:Hip hop
Length:57:57
Prev Title:Trilla
Prev Year:2008
Next Title:Teflon Don
Next Year:2010

Deeper Than Rap is the third album by American rapper Rick Ross. It was released on April 21, 2009, by Maybach Music Group, Slip-n-Slide Records and Def Jam Recordings. Recording sessions for the album took place during 2008 to 2009, with additional production handled by the Inkredibles, the Runners, DJ Toomp and Drumma Boy. Guests on the album include Nas, Avery Storm, Foxy Brown and Ne-Yo, among others. During the album's development, some controversy arose over the release of photos, showing Ross working as a correctional officer during his ongoing feud with rapper 50 Cent.

The album was supported by three singles: "Magnificent" featuring John Legend, "Maybach Music 2" featuring Kanye West, Lil Wayne and T-Pain, and "All I Really Want" featuring the-Dream. A promotional single, "Mafia Music", was released.

Deeper Than Rap received generally positive reviews from music critics. The album debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200.

Background

In May 2008, Rick Ross announced his plans to begin recording his third album, titled Deeper Than Rap.[1] In addition to this album, Ross also has been working through his several mixtapes, freestyle tracks, and his upcoming collaboration with rapper Birdman, titled The H.[2] In July 2008, during the album's development, the controversy arose over some photographs leaked of Ross (real name William Roberts), which was taken during his career as a correctional officer.[3]

Ross released the street track, titled "Kiss My Pinky Ring Curly", which was intended to attack towards fellow rapper 50 Cent. Ross then mentioned a possible release date of March 24, 2009.[4] In March 2009, the album release date was delayed to April 21, before Ross told MTV News about a possible charity concert for the underprivileged neighborhoods of New York City.[5]

The listening party for this album was held at the Tribeca Grand Hotel in New York City on March 17.[3] Prior to the release day, Ross had asserted in interviews with MTV that this album would be his best during his career.[3] [6] Rick Ross claims that if Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2003) by 50 Cent has sold 10 million copies, then his next record (Deeper Than Rap) would sell 12 million.[7] [8] However, this did not materialize. According to Ross, a feud with 50 Cent started, after he released the track "Mafia Music", which was released online. The album presented personal information about 50 Cent's relationship with the mother of his child.

Critical reception

Upon its release, Deeper Than Rap received generally positive reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 73, based on 11 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". AllMusic's David Jeffries commended Ross for his "ability to steamroll over all of his shortcomings," calling it "the superstar, gangster weekend album done right." Adam M. Levin of RapReviews described the album as "essentially a gangster movie on wax, and Ross is excellent in his role as the boss at the top of the heap with nothing to lose but his cool." Jon Caramanica of The New York Times gave Deeper Than Rap a favorable review and perceived it as an improvement over Ross's previous work. On its production and musical style, Caramanica wrote "this album is lush, erotic, entitled, a stunning leisure-class document of easy wealth and carefree sex. It’s a throwback to a time of sonic and attitudinal ambition in hip-hop — the Bad Boy era of the mid- to late ’90s, with its warm soul samples connoting the new hip-hop luxury comes to mind. Few rap albums have sounded this assured, this sumptuous, in years".

Wilson McBee of Slant Magazine gave credit to Ross for showing more lyrical depth in his lyrics but found the R&B midpoint in the album to lead Ross "closer to being Flo Rida's fat uncle than Jay-Z's second in command." He concluded that, "Phony or not, Ross has planted himself near the center of hip-hop's orbit, and Deeper proves that it's going to take more than YouTube beefs and blogger scandal-mongering to move him out of the way." Steve Jones of USA Today felt that even with the beats, imposing charisma and huge guest list, Ross didn't deviate far enough from the typical rap themes he told before in previous efforts, saying that "His tales of gangster riches are colorful, but you wish Ross would find something deeper to talk about." Christian Hoard of Rolling Stone felt that Ross' formula of shiny beats that supply tracks telling rap lifestyle stories was tiring, saying that "over the length of a full album it all feels a bit too familiar."

Commercial performance

In the United States, Deeper Than Rap debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, selling 158,000 copies during its first week, becoming Ross's third album to debut at number one.[9] In its second week, the album dropped to number four on the chart, selling 51,125 copies.[10] In its third week, the album dropped to number eight on the chart, selling 34,828 copies that week.[11] In its fourth week, the album moved down to number nine on the chart, selling 26,487 copies, bring its four-week total to 270,000 copies.[12] After seven weeks, the album had sold 315,385 copies in the US.[13] As of August 2010, the album sold 439,000 copies in the United States.[14]

Track listing

Sample credits

Personnel

Charts

Year-end charts

Chart (2009)Position
US Billboard 200[15] 80
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[16] 14
US Top Rap Albums (Billboard)[17] 5

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Rick Ross Talks About Tiger Attack -- Seriously! -- On The Set Of His 'Here I Am' Video. https://web.archive.org/web/20080919225703/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1587800/20080520/ross__rick__rap_.jhtml. dead. September 19, 2008. Reid. Shaheem. May 20, 2008. MTV News. Viacom. May 9, 2009.
  2. News: Plies Readies His Second LP Of 2008; Rick Ross Works On Mixtape, Two New Albums. https://web.archive.org/web/20080923062333/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1595253/20080919/plies.jhtml. dead. September 23, 2008. Reid. Shaheem. September 19, 2008. MTV News. Viacom. May 9, 2009.
  3. News: Rick Ross Album Preview: Deeper Than Rap Is 'The Best Music Of My Career'. https://web.archive.org/web/20090321030749/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1607209/20090318/ross__rick__rap_.jhtml. dead. March 21, 2009. Reid. Shaheem. March 18, 2009. MTV News. Viacom. May 9, 2009.
  4. News: Rick Ross Responds To 50 Cent's Taunts With 'Kiss My Pinky Ring'. https://web.archive.org/web/20090207200820/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1604523/20090206/ross__rick__rap_.jhtml. dead. February 7, 2009. Reid. Shaheem. February 6, 2009. MTV News. Viacom. May 9, 2009.
  5. News: Rick Ross Announces Mini-Tour, Deeper Than Rap Details. https://web.archive.org/web/20090309132611/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1606325/20090304/ross__rick__rap_.jhtml. dead. March 9, 2009. Reid. Shaheem. March 4, 2009. MTV News. Viacom. May 9, 2009.
  6. News: Rick Ross Is 'Competing For The Throne' With Deeper Than Rap. https://web.archive.org/web/20090409113615/http://www.mtv.com//news//articles//1608776//20090407//ross__rick__rap_.jhtml. dead. April 9, 2009. Reid. Shaheem. April 7, 2009. MTV News. Viacom. May 9, 2009.
  7. Web site: Reid . Shaheem . Rick Ross Vows To Outsell 50 Cent: Mixtape Monday . https://web.archive.org/web/20090315080838/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1605493/20090220/50_cent.jhtml . dead . March 15, 2009 . MTV News . Viacom . February 23, 2009 . February 23, 2011.
  8. Web site: 50 Cent Says Rick Ross Is 'Gusto From CB4', Laughs Off Ross' Sales Predictions . Baller Status . March 3, 2009 . February 23, 2011 . June 19, 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100619085851/http://www.ballerstatus.com/2009/03/03/50-cent-says-rick-ross-is-gusto-from-cb4-laughs-off-ross-sales-predictions/ . dead .
  9. Web site: Rick Ross Debuts At No. 1 On Billboard 200 For Third Time . Caulfield . Keith . April 29, 2009 . Billboard . https://web.archive.org/web/20121006014456/http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/news/e3i7def68b2d246e0d2d97baf8bc61d118f . October 6, 2012 . dead .
  10. Web site: Caufield . Keith . Bob Dylan Bows Atop Billboard 200 . Billboard . May 6, 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121006014522/http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/news/e3i32df4dbbca466f9e1d970c46a29986a1 . October 6, 2012 . dead .
  11. Web site: Caufield . Keith . Chrisette Michele Scores First No. 1 On Billboard 200 . Billboard . May 13, 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121006014336/http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/news/e3i5d4ce2397955e3fd2bada7c1a712b91c . October 6, 2012 . dead .
  12. Web site: Caufield . Keith . Green Day Takes Top Spot On Billboard 200 . Billboard . May 20, 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121006014356/http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/genre/news/e3i3f5cf679b16352f605c0f9c73d0437bd . October 6, 2012 . dead .
  13. Web site: Paine . Jake . Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 6/7/2009 . . Cheri Media Group . June 10, 2009 . February 23, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20091211231323/http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.9280/title.hip-hop-album-sales-the-week-ending-6-7-2009 . December 11, 2009 . dead .
  14. Web site: TrendSettin.com . TrendSettin.com . 2011-02-23 . July 17, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110717100122/http://www.trendsettin.com/?p=2762#more-2762 . dead .
  15. Web site: 2009 Year-End Charts: Billboard 200 Albums. Billboard. May 16, 2015.
  16. Web site: 2009 Year-End Charts: R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Billboard. May 16, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150917054633/http://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2009/top-r-b-hip-hop-albums. September 17, 2015. dead.
  17. Web site: 2009 Year-End Charts: Rap Albums. Billboard. May 16, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151012091127/http://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2009/top-rap-albums. October 12, 2015. dead.

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