How UGK influenced Rick Ross: “This shit here is next level”
Rick Ross has been one of the most prominent names in hip-hop since he burst onto the scene in the mid-2000s. He’s topped the Billboard 200 with five different albums, including Port of Miami and Deeper Than Rap, and boasts a boisterous rap voice like no other.
The 49-year-old has remained at the top of his game for two decades, and was keen on a rap career since his teenage years. It may have taken him a while to make it in music, considering he has a past life as a correctional officer, but it was UGK and others from that time period that soundtracked his life and shaped his style.
“That era for me, that was me coming up in my last years of high school, [as I was] just figuring myself out,” he told GQ. “Just asking myself, ‘What you fixing to do?’ And that’s when I understood and knew I wanted to make music. So I was listening to that shit from when I woke up in the morning to when I went to sleep. And that went on for years.”
Ross is a notable fan of UGK’s ‘Wood Wheel’, which appears on their 2001 album, Dirty Money. Over the years, he’s frequently posted music from the likes of Pimp C and Bun B, as well as 8Ball and MJG. He was inspired by their thumping production and the constant high level of wordplay on display.
“What 8Ball, MJG, that Texas sound of Rap-A-Lot Records, Scarface, Geto Boys—when I heard that arrogance of Pimp C, and when I heard that aggressive, nonstop wordplay coming from Bun B, that combination together with the production they chose, I said, ‘Boy, this shit here is next level.'” he recalled.
Ross collaborated with UGK on ‘Cocaine’ in 2007, which featured on their Underground Kingz album. The song was released just month’s before Pimp C passed away. In his verse, Rock acknowledges the opportunity to rap with two greats, spitting, “Ricky Ross, only fuck with legends/ Pimp C, Bun B got the hustle perfected.”
The Miami rapper had the pleasure of meeting Pimp C and even has a photo with the late MC, once posting a photo of them on Instagram inside a nightclub. “We spoke a few days later, maybe a week before he passed away,” he said. “So, yeah, I want to say RIP to him. RIP his mom, just the whole squad. Pimp was special. His arrogance was priceless. And man, when I listen to that shit, I feel it because I know he’s speaking for every young guy who wants a house right up the street.”
Ross has also teamed up with Bun B on several occasions, providing guest appearances on ‘You’re My Everything’ from 2008’s Ill Trill and ‘Fire’ from 2013’s Trill O.G.: The Epilogue. When it comes to legends like Pimp C, Ross isn’t afraid to interpolate them in his rhymes, even if it’s just the pronunciation of words. He sees at as paying homage and wants to continue letting the icons shine through him.