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Rick Ross Speaks On Maybach Music Signings & Plans

Rap Radar: Why did you ultimately choose Warner Bros. as the distribution home for MMG?
Rozay: Overall it was the best situation for me. Not to go into too many details, it was certain things that were more important than others, and they came to the table. Lyor Cohen, Todd Moscowitz, Joey IE, the whole team, we came to the table and we made it a great situation and I’m looking forward to this year. The decision I made was based on business and what was best for Maybach Music Group and my whole team.

So it was a true bidding war?
Everybody was interested, and some people I may have been closer with than others, but at the same time, they understand the time it took for me to get in this position. I couldn’t afford to leave nothing on the table.

Yeah I think the hip-hop community might not fully understand at this point that you’re more than just an artist, right?
Most definitely. Where I’m going, and where Maybach Music Group is going, it’s most definitely the time to let everybody know that this a brand that’s gon’ be here for a long time. So, you know, just get money.

So when did it click with you that you really wanted to focus on trying to lead as the head of a label?
Ever since I released my first album on Maybach Music which was Triple C’s Custom Cars and Cycles. I started taking more responsibility and really going step through step from the music to all of the business that goes around albums. From the marketing and the handling of the product, I learned a lot. I knew what I needed to really win. So that’s what the focus was just making all the things happen that’ll really put me in a position to win.

So what is your relationship right now with Def Jam? ‘Cause there’s reports that you owe them only one more album and that you’re lookin’ to leave to join your own imprint at Warner.
I’m still signed to Def Jam as a solo artist. I still have another album with Def Jam as a solo artist. When that’s over with, the deal I’mma do for Rick Ross that’s gon’ be like a Albert Pujols situation. On my next shit, I may not even want an advance, I may just want a percentage of the company, you know what I mean? On my Pujols shit.

Are you concerned that since there’s no guarantee that you’ll stay with Def Jam that they’re not gonna properly promote and market the God Forgives, I Don’t album.
Nah, not at all, the people that I work with at Def Jam, they’re winners as well. So you know, we gon’ take advantage of everything we put out, that’s what I believe. With this last album, Teflon Don, all of us developed a bond, and when I brought the last album together and presented it to their team, everybody understood the purpose for each record and for each single. We all handled business and that’s why we got the results we got. I’m not expecting no less.

So basically the decision you made didn’t really have anything to do with you having a fallout with Def Jam, or L.A. Reid in particular, right? You are just making moves as a mogul that you feel are best for your company.
Most definitely. I think that when I see artists who complain on a personal level, it makes them look bad. For one, this is an extremely difficult business and if you think this shit is rainbows—you got the game fucked up. Coming from where I come from and the kind of hustler and entrepreneur that I am, all I request is my lane and gimme that money I need. I’mma bring everything else to the light.

L.A. Reid, always been a good dude, he always cutting checks on time, anytime I made phone calls he was there for me as well as his staff. So it wasn’t about that at all. But most definitely, you know, it’s just about doing what’s best for my company.

You’re making a lot of noise with all these recent signings at MMG. When did you really decide you were gonna really sign artists to your imprint that were outside your personal circle?
Well, my love and passion for making music goes beyond myself so I’ve been in the position where I’ve been able to work with a lot of different artists over time, and I’ve developed a name for being able to put great records together with people. A lot of times I could sit back and look at certain artists situations and always kinda gauge what kind of record, that if I was working with them, I would want to hear.

Now those opportunities have presented itself. With artists such as Wale, I feel he’s one of the dopest lyricists that I’ve worked with. And I think it’s just time to channel all that in the same direction, and I don’t see no problem with that being done. With the music he’s recorded with me in the last three months, I’m excited about muthafuckas really hearing what he’s bringing to the table.

And Meek Mill?
I was on the road, I came into Philly and the streets…it was like the streets almost demanded that I meet this dude. Philly was embracing him from Twitter to the street homies that I knew from Philly.

I got him on the phone, and of course I had him come meet me. He played me his music, we met once or twice after that, and I just felt the energy. Then I heard his story, his struggle, growing up in Philly, the things that he witnessed, his father being slayed, him being incarcerated and coming out. He was really pouring his life into his music, and me hearing his flow and his aggression, I was mesmerized. I understand he’s a self-made dude.

You’ve signed these guys and you’re right in the lab with them, really knocking out records fast. How did the chemistry develop so quickly?
I think it comes from everybody playing their position, and that’s something that we established quick. We gon’ all ride for each other, but we all gotta play our positions. As long as we keep that system, we gon’ win. My key to success is I work hard. That’s the first thing I let artists in on—that’s what Maybach Music is built on. I may sleep two hours a day.

When we get in Swisher Suite studio, we ain’t thinking ‘bout nothing else but hit records. We gon’ drink a little champagne, a little Ciroc, we gon’ smoke good, and we gon’ motivate each other, and we gon’ really create. Create that hot piece, and that’s what it is. It’s no relaxing. Ain’t no beds for niggas, ain’t no beds. It’s pads, it’s ink pens, and it’s beats. We got as many bottles of champagne as you need, and the smoke is unlimited, but other than that, we ain’t relaxing.

He came to the table rocking his gold Rollys and his black diamonds. As a young dude, he may have had five different sets of jewels before he even came into the fold with me. That hustle I automatically connect to and it made it that much more easier for us to make music and talk about the things we talk about.

Talk to me about your latest signing, Pill, who was already signed to Warner, how’d he get moved to MMG?
Yeah we’re the new powerhouse over at Warner and I got an opportunity to look at the roster and Pill was an artist I felt that we should acquire. I’ve been watching him grind for the last 2 years, he was somebody I was a fan of. I like his element of storytelling, the way he presents his rhymes. Especially coming from the A where so much dance music comes from. I most definitely wanted to embrace that.

Let’s go back to Wale, because you know obviously he’s a guy who made a lot of noise through the Internet and mixtapes, and when his debut album came out, it didn’t do so well and he caught a lot of criticism. How do you deal with that, the perception of him? What made you believe that numbers don’t define who he is and the talent that he has?
It’s because I understand his ability, I understand his ideas, I understand the market he’s coming from. You know he’s coming from DC, he’s coming from the DMV. So that wasn’t the strongest area for hip hop artists. And Miami was in that position for a long time. He showed a lot of potential with his album, but I think it wasn’t his time. Maybe the Lady Gaga was a little early, but whatever it was, it doesn’t take away from Wale being a fly young lyrical dude. And that’s what I wanted to capitalize on.
He has a record by the name of “The Andy Warhol Gallery,” and the way he paints pictures, I haven’t really heard anyone do that in a long time. It’s like damn, this shit is so concentrated and his hunger now is even more than before. It’s not a doubt in my mind that he’s gonna be one of the biggest artists this year.

A lot of folks are still concerned and are questioning how Wale’s sound can mesh with the public’s perception of your sound?
It’s not necessarily about our sounds meshing. What we both have in common, is we’re lyricists. We both are storytellers, we’re both great with the wordplay.  And that’s our foundation, that’s our common ground. Other than that he likes different types of music, which I can appreciate. I think that’s what makes it dope.

How much involvement do you feel like you’re gonna have with your artists’ projects? Like should we expect to see you as a featured guest on some singles?
I won’t necessarily say that’s the standard, because it’s not. The records that we bring to the forefront are the records that we feel are the best. And if I’m not on those records, that’s what it is. The records that I bring to the table they may serve a different purpose versus being a single which I’m totally cool with that. Wale got a record now, it’s Wale, Meek, and J. Cole and I did the chorus and it’s just like damn. It’s one of those records, I would love to be on but I’m not. I’m on the chorus but it’s just one of those records that you want to put a verse on. That’s the kind of music we want to make.

Any idea of doing a Maybach Music compilation album to introduce the new movement fully?
I think we will bypass the compilation aspect but we’re gonna be releasing mixtapes. I was on the phone with DJ Drama last night discussing the possibility of a Maybach music, Gangsta Grillz. Like what we could do to make it different, you know. We had a good conversation.

So what is the scheduled rollout for the MMG roster?
It basically boils down to the records determining the setup that we end up doing. Right now, we’re just accumulating music, we’re loading our arsenal up, we’re gettin’ records from everybody. Swizz just sent me a crazy record for Meek Mill. I’m getting in the studio with Mike Dean. But you can expect singles from all the acts in the next three months.

So we’re gonna get a new Rick Ross, Wale, Meek and Pill album this year. Are you on some No Limit shit? Are you concerned with over saturation or anything like that?
No, not at all, I just worry about hit records.

Last question, so are the other moguls still speaking to you even though you went to Warner. Ha! What’s up with Puff and Baby?
Birdman is one of the realest niggas in the game. That’s my blood right there, that’s family right there, that’s my nigga right there. He support me to whatever, you know what I mean. And even though I still got my label deal over at Warner, he still got other opportunities. He want me to fuck with him as well as Puff. So these are dudes that I look up to for any questions I have. I can always go to them and you know they’ve been supportive from day one. I salute them gangstas.

Backstage With Plum Wine Collecting Erykah Badu!

Da Brat Shares Her Prison Experience

Following her recent release from prison, where she served three years on aggravated assault charges, Bossip spoke to Da Brat about life behind bars, her newfound freedom and what the future holds.

Bossip: Who held you down while you were locked up?
Da Brat: All my family, all my friends. My mother — of course my sister. JD wrote me. Despite what people had to say about my brother JD, he just could not see me in that light and I understand that. Some people don’t want to see their people locked down, so I’m not mad at him at all. I love him and I know he loves me despite whatever negative things other people are saying.

Mariah [Carey] and Nick {Cannon} came… Kat Williams came… my cousin Stacy came. Mister and Jamel and Ralph came. Everybody came and they didn’t come just once. Somebody was there every week. Sometimes I was like look i don’t want to come up there I’m tired and I want to rest this weekend but they were like ‘No you’re getting up!’ and I had to sit in visitation with all those people. I had mad love and I’m grateful. I didn’t realize how many people really loved me still. I got like 20-30 pieces of mail a day from fans. I’m grateful for that because some people in there didn’t have nobody.

Bossip: How does it feel to be out?

Da Brat: I’m blessed to be out. I’m not sleeping on a mattress that’s two inches thick, I don’t got to be worried about what they got to eat. I can eat whatever I want to eat. They didn’t have no vegetables. I didn’t eat none of the stuff they had at chow except when they had “real chicken” — you know chicken on the bone. I ate mostly from the store. Mostly tuna. The basic meal is ramen noodles, but if you eat that sh*t you will get fat as hell. I was eating those for a minute and then I was like “ohhh” I had to back up off of it.

What were some of the challenges inside?

Some of the officers were haters of course. When you come in they pre-judge you. They think “Oh you some rapper, you think you hard and you think you this and you gonna come in wildin’ out” but it wasn’t like that. I had to learn to hold my peace, cuz you know when someone is screaming in your face you want to be like, “Who the f*ck is you talking to?” especially when it’s someone younger than you. Once the officers got to know me everybody was like “Ah you’re mad cool, you’re nothing like what you thought you were.”

I’m not a problem causing person it’s just there was a situation where it made me react the way that I reacted. Everybody makes mistakes and I can’t wait until I can tell my side of the story. I can’t right now because there’s a suit still going on. It didn’t happen like people think it happened and when this is all over, don’t worry, when it’s all over and everybody is straight, I can’t wait to tell my side of the story. Because I did not just do something vicious.

I’m not trying to go back even though I was a boss b*tch in there. I had everything I needed. Everything was straight, but I’m not trying to go back. I’m not trying to glorify it because it was not no place you want to go to.  

We just knew you had them in there trying to braid your hair.

Man… They was fighting over who got to braid my hair. I had to be like ‘Okay you can braid it this week and you can braid it next week.’ It was all good really. I had no issues whatsoever. I had to cuss a couple of people out because you know if you come across as too nice people are going to try and take advantage. A couple people tried to test, but once I got in that a*s like “Eh-eh it ain’t happening, don’t even try it.” You gotta let them know and once I did that nobody tried me since.”

Have you gotten any advice from your peers?

I have a lot of great friends and a lot of smart people so I’ve gotten a lot of advice from good influential people who I definitely take the advice from. I don’t want to share no names. I don’t want to bring nobody in it because you would be surprised who is trying to get brought in it that didn’t have anything to do with it at all.

What was the first thing you did when you were released?

Went to get a steak and eat. Got scooped up in the limo and hung out with my partners, we just kicked it and talked about future plans. Everybody was trying to come get me but I just let my crew come get me, my boys… They been down with me the whole time, coming to see me every weekend even when I didn’t feel like it. Jamel, Mister and Ralph, that’s my squad, they more like my brothers. I told my sister and all them to just chill. They can come see me when I’m home cuz I’m in Atlanta on house arrest right now. They can come see me whenever they want to.

What do you plan to do while you’re on house arrest?

I have this nice beautiful leg monitor, ankle bracelet and I can’t really go nowhere. I can go back and forth to work — I’m gonna keep my job at the little window spot where I was working at. I was doing a work release program at the transitional center and I was able to go out every weekend. I thought when I got out I would be able to move around a little more, but now it’s like I’m confined more. At least at the house I have my computer, JD is about to send over some studio equipment, microphone and all that so I’m about to get on the records and get it crackin’. I can watch satellite tv and do whatever I want to do at the house. Get in the hot tub, grill…

Have you started recording yet?

I haven’t started yet. I’m just letting it get all built up. It’s so built up I’m going to explode when I do start and I’m not gonna stop. I’m ready. I’m hungry, I’m excited.

Who do you want to work with when you start recording again?

Aw man, that is a great question. Of course I want to work with JD cuz that’s my brother. I want to do something with Fantasia, I love Fantasia, she is the sweetest. “Bittersweet” was so hot. That was my favorite song for a minute. I love Kelly Price’s voice. I love the singers. Of course I love Mariah but she’s not really working right now cuz she’s about to drop them twins in April they’re gonna be Aries babies. I really don’t have a wishlist right now, I just want the songs to be hot.

What are you going to do differently now that you’re free?

My life period is going to be ten thousand times better because my temper and my attitude have totally adjusted. I think I needed to sit down for awhile. I think God does everything for a reason and it was meant for me to sit down and regroup and think things over and realize I shouldn’t take anything for granted. i have to be very careful about my actions and what I say to people and how I react. I think I am a better person, a wiser person, a smarter person who is not going to take anything for granted anymore.

Once you’re off house arrest, I know you are going somewhere special — where you going?

I have to get permission to go, but I will probably go to Hawaii or something like that. I just want a beautiful sunset, nice beautiful clear water and I want to see some mountains and some bonfires on the beach.

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