Rightly regarded as one of the boldest MCs of his generation, Rick Ross will go down in history for his gruff delivery and plentiful confidence. He came to prominence in the 2000s with his debut album, Port Of Miami and ever since, he has evolved. Ross has released 11 studio albums, one collaborative album and has even undertaken ventures outside of music. However, his career has had some interesting moments.
Ross (real name William Roberts II) has always had a great deal of pride in his ability to make money. From tracks such as ‘Richer Than I Ever Been’ to his 2006 anthem ‘Hustlin,’ it is evident in his music that his financial status means a lot to him. However, he once strangely received a cheque for $1 million when he was expecting nothing.
In 2007, Diddy entered a joint venture with the French company Diageo to help promote and market the renowned Vodka brand Cîroc. However, at the time, it was not popular in the African-American community, and to change this, the mogul gathered some recruits to help him boost the brand.
Someone Diddy turned to in 2007 was Ross, and in an Instagram video, the Miami native let his fans know there is no shame in doing someone a favour as you don’t know where it may get you. The Maybach Music founder unveiled that he initially promoted Cîroc for a whole year without receiving any pay.
Highlighting his position, Roberts told fans, “I was once an unpaid brand ambassador for @ciroc for a year +..taking pics, posts, etc. Already a huge artist.” The emcee explained to his followers that you sometimes need to place yourself strategically in certain places to establish yourself as someone with value.
Delving into the inner workings of brand partnerships, Roberts told fans, “When you go to a job, and they give you an interview, they actually want to see what you are coming to the table with. What are your gifts? What makes you unique? Or are you just a standard individual that can mop and sweep?”
Ross chose to do it for free and was happy to do so. However, as, Ross captioned his video, “[Sic] Following yr @diddy gave me a 1 million dollar check just for taking the initiative and going hard as I did when no one else was!” What Roberts took on as an unpaid job made him $1 million richer. You can see the ‘Aston Martin Music’ lyricist’s post below.