Should Rick Ross be considered King of the South?

I know many people who know me personally right now are wondering what have I been smoking when I asked this question, But this is a real topic and while Im not going into certain lengths to overpraise Ross and claim that he’s the next Biggie or he’s walking with the spirit of Biggie like that well-known capitalist P-Diddy. The fact of the matter is Rick Ross musically is coming with some dope music and after dropping that Albert Antatista EP this past weekend. I’m more convinced than ever that Ross could be a serious contender for the throne. Lets take a look at how Ross took a career ending situation and made something out of it.

When the news leaked that Rick Ross use to be a CO, This was a crushing blow to his reputation and it stood out to many as him being a “liar” which unmistakably he is. Then to make matters even worse and knowing he had nothing to really lose at this point, He decided to throw a shot at a rapper that built his career off of beef(50 Cent) and endured his fair share of humiliation from 50. This was a bad time for Ross and 50 was just as ruthless as ever in destroying Ross’s reputation similar to how he did Ja Rule. This was the perfect timing for 50. After constantly baiting Lil Wayne and Jay only to have been ignored, He finally found somebody that took his hook and he went on an all out onslaught on Ross’s character:

Despite the fact that 50 was pulling out all the stops and Ross releasing some of the worst diss records in hip hop. Ross decided to channel that negative energy into putting together a cohesive album. His third album titled Deeper than Rap was a make or break album for Ross and while it may didn’t do the monster numbers he wanted, It still helped people overlook the beef between him and 50 and made them just pay attention to his music which was pretty good.

Now the whole King of the South argument came courtesy of SOHH.COM and it became an all out discussion slash argument between haters and stans alike. Now heres my opinion of what Ross’s status is looking like and I feel that with the release of this EP and his appearances on people’s albums and remixes. I believe he should be a top contender.

Ever since the CO controversy and the beef with 50, Theres no denying that Ross has stepped up his pen game and his ear for production. Gone are the lazy Scarface/Drug dealer metaphors that has dominated the majority of his music on Port of Miami and Trilla. His lyricism has stepped up big time, Check out Valley of Death:

Rick Ross is one of the few mainstream artists keeping completely hip hop at this moment. Although he’s done songs with the likes of John Legend and Neyo. Its hip hop in comparison to many of his peers who are losing either credibility musically or just turning pop in every turn.

The current “King of the South” is doing T.I. doing songs with Justin Timberlake, Rihanna and Lady Gaga. Ludacris is currently going the LL route and dropping albums for women along with doing pop songs with Justin Bieber, Lil Wayne is too busy going to jail, sipping syrup and trying to become a rock star to even be takened seriously anymore. Gucci Mane, Waka Flocka, or Soulja boy even being in that King of the South category is laughable. So while these guys are going pop, Ross is dropping heat like this one:

And when I say Ross is doing Hip hop, I really mean it at this point. How many of these mainstream rappers are actually reach out to guys like Kool G Rap and put them on their album? Kool G Rap is one of the most underrated lyricists of all time and Ross putting him on his album was a good look for G Raps career.. Ross even featured America’s Nightmare Nas on his last album and made Justice League well-known producers when they been slept on for years.

But still despite the good music, The CO pictures are still following Ross like a black cloud and he’s gonna be reminded of that everyday of his career. Even though many have said he’s a phony(and I think he is myself). The argument from his supporters is that it could also be said for many rappers who made their careers off telling fabricated stories and lies about their lifestyles. It’s highly impossible for alot of artists to live every bit of what they say and I still feel that Ross deserves the chastisement for the lying about his image. But it’s very hard to deny the quality music that he’s been releasing for the past couple of years so T.I., Wayne, and Jeezy better beware because the BAWSE is coming for the crown.