Rick Ross
Trilla (Def Jam)
ESSENTIAL "Maybach Music"
With his second record, Miami MC Rick Ross helps out the environmental cause by recycling most of his much-lauded debut. What carries the rotund rapper are his booming voice-of-God flow and his aura of authority. He really knows his kilos, cash, and strippers. His details and perspective are vivid and compelling, but he's far from a nimble MC. He repeats words for rhymes with numbing results, and he's clearly spinning more wheels than tales. When surrounded by his all-star guests, they expose his limitations. Lil' Wayne's pretzel-twisting language on "Luxury Tax" makes Ross sound like a primitive (the added presence of Young Jeezy and Trick Daddy doesn't help). There are some superb tracks, though, including the collaboration with Jay-Z, "Maybach Music," which blinds with the colors of money. "The Boss," with the ubiquitous T-Pain, is even more insistent than "Hustlin'," and "Money Make Me" is a stripper-joint supreme. The high-profile producers indulge Ross's most base instincts, and plenty of these tracks bleed thunder and menace. There are too many throwaway songs and guests (Nelly?), but Ross can still expose all the thrills of Miami vice. [Ken Capobianco]
