“Teflon Don” Rick Ross (2010) – He’s A Boss

I remember the first time I ever really paid attention to Rick Ross.  It was during a live performance he did for VH1’s Hip Hop Honors.  Before 2009, I had no idea who did that damn song “Hustlin” (you know, the one that LMFAO reference in Party Rock Anthem).

Rick Ross wasn’t really on my radar as far as Hip Hop artists were concerned and when he hit the stage, I was a bit distracted by what he was wearing than the actual performance.  I mean, he’s a big dude and his jacket is unzipped low enough to really allude to the full on fat nakedness happening underneath.  Plus that jacket just looked too warm to wear.  Also, it looked like it was leather. There was a time back in my goth days where I wore vinyl pants to a club without undies.  This reminds me of that swamp sweat feeling

Wait…what was I saying?

Oh right, that 2009 performance didn’t leave much of an impression on me and all I had known of Rick Ross at the time was the two tracks “Hustlin” and “Boss”.  Both of those songs were hits and garnered enough radio play in my car back when the only thing I could listen to was Power 106 while stuck in traffic.  (You picturing me thugging out in my car like Michael Bolton from Office Space yet?)

Two years later, I found myself sitting at my desk at work toying around with the Spotify player.  While checking out Lil Wayne’s latest offering Tha Carter IV (Tha Carter II is still his best album), I found myself unable to really get past the track “John” featuring Rick Ross. And thusly, I ended up giving “Teflon Don” a listen.  From there, I listened to “Maybach Music” and that was the day I became a fan of Mr. Rozay.

It’s quite obvious that Rick Ross is the Tony Montana of Hip Hop.  His mafioso/cartel Don persona makes his raps way more entertaining to listen to.  It’s like I find myself playing a Scarface/Grand Theft Auto video game movie hybrid (that’s probably redundant) in my brain when I listen to his music.  And if it’s in my car, you best be sure I’ll be leaning like a pimp as much as one can in a Prius.

So this brings me to the actual album, “Teflon Don”.  I mentioned “Maybach Music” which is a great album.  But “Teflon Don” takes the already expected style of Rick Ross delivering club bangers to be blasted out of your car stereo and elevates the formula with some actual musical artistry.  There’s more depth here.  I rarely say this about an album, unless it’s put out by Tom Waits or Jay-Z, but every song on “Teflon Don” is worth repeated listens.  They never get old for me.  And in case you’re really wanting to know, highlights for me are “I’m Not A Star” (go listen to Lil Wayne’s “John”), “Live Fast, Die Young” (Kanye steals the show on this track), and “B.M.F. (Blowin’ Money Fast)”.

 Now that I got that off my chest, can we get Mr. Ross to cover up his?