A few months ago things looked pretty bleak for Rick Ross. At that point in time, the Boss had seemingly bit off more than he could chew in engaging in a much publicized beef with infamous rapper 50 Cent. Ross’ single ‘Mafia Music’ had leaked and surprisingly, he had appeared to take a shot at 50. Ross’ words from the single read below.

“I love to pay her bills, can’t wait to pay her rent
Curtis Jackson baby mama, I aint asking for a cent
Burn the house down, gotta buy another
don’t forget the gas can, jealous, stupid muthaf****”

 Needless to say, 50 Cent came back at Ross shortly thereafter and he didn’t let up. From bringing the mother of Ross’ child up to New York and getting the inside scoop on her relationship with him to taking repeated shots at Ross’ past life as a correctional officer, 50 was unrelenting and the music world was in an uproar. 

What was overlooked through the entire ordeal was the fact that despite not being able to hang with 50 in a beef or feud, Ross had something to fall back on that 50 Cent couldn’t touch…his music.

Regardless of what you think of his past or his actions towards riling up 50, it’s hard to deny the fact that Rick Ross knows how to make some damn good music and when all else fails, he will always have that to turn to. Now presently just days away from the release of his upcoming album, ‘Deeper Than Rap’, expectations are high on his newest release and there appears to be light at the end of the tunnel for one of Miami’s biggest stars. With appearances from Lil’ Wayne, Nas, Kanye West, The Dream, T-Pain, and many more on the album, Ross could turn a potential disaster into a triumph in the next coming weeks.

Wanting to get a better sense of what the everyday public is saying about Rick Ross, 24 Hour Hip Hop took a look into some choice forums online to get a feel on everyone’s thoughts. From the buzz surrounding his album to his future as an artist, this is Pulse of a Nation: Overcoming the Elements with Rick Ross…

(Chris Wells @ Imeem.com)…
“You gotta be from South Florida to really appreciate and jam to this kind of music. Ross releases sunny, south Florida music. Fort Lauderdale all day baby!”

(Prodgkick @ MTV.com)…
“I wish writers would quit throwing around words like “classic album”. In this age in the music biz so few albums can actually be considered classic, journalists just use that word to give an artist more hype. The South does have artists that are worth listening to but the majority of them are just garbage. Lil’ Wayne’s Tha Carter III was good, but I still think Carter II was better. Just my opinion though.”

(Jordandunks23 @ InsideHoops.com)…
“Realistically speaking, he will still probably struggle to go gold on this album. I expect maybe 75,000 first week sales. I’m not a huge fan of his but I admit he has some nice singles.”

(DaddyJames77 @ Youtube.com)
“Some of y’all are funny. Fussin’ over these rich niggas beef like they give a fuk about ya’ll. Yeah, Ross killed it plain and simple but both of them are fake. Real niggas roll in silence. Cats that do dirt don’t brag about it on wax. Now That’s real talk.”

(Becksfut @ Hypebeast.com)…
“I guess we can forgive him for being a parole officer if he makes good music.”

(Figgatkcs @ MTV.com)…
“There was never a Rick Ross in the first place; he is not a platinum artist. He is fully aware of his position, in his last interview, he said he has made enough money he needed to make in hip hop, which means he is ready to take it the way it is, he is ready to admit the fact that his little career has ended. He will not be missed.”

(Jen Jones @ Imeem.com)…
“I can’t wait til’ the summer when I am gonna be blasting his new music in my car!!”

(Ballzplaya @ Youtube.com)…
“50 Cent can’t touch Ross when it comes to this shit right here. You can’t hate on good music and that’s what Ross is making right now.”

(Subculture @ Hypebeat.com)…
“Yeah, maybe he has no street credibility. Why should I give a shit? I don’t give a fuck what the nigga used to do or not do. Am I going to be riding through the hood with this nigga trying to get a ghetto pass? No. It’s fucking entertainment and I’m entertained by it. I don’t live by it, believe it, or give a shit what someone does in their free time. I have way too much of my own concerns to decipher and sift through somone’s rap and try to figure fact from fiction.  Only way people are dismayed, disappointed or put off by a rapper lying is if you wanted to believe it in the first place. Fail. You care too much. Rick Ross’ new album is gonna be ridiculous though, everything on it sounds fucking crazy.”

(Gillateen1 @ Youtube.com)…
“l’m going to be honest when i first heard rick ross on “Everyday I’m Hustlin” I thought the beat was tight but ross wasn’t saying nothing. Then a while later I heard that joint with T-pain on it and thought ross went hard on it so I bought the album and the whole album was good and when i heard this song I feel this album is going to be even harder and I can’t wait until it comes out. Rick Ross keep doing yo thang!!!!!!”

(Dibanez @ MTV.com)…
“Wow, you guys are too gay. Reading your comments are jus ridiculous. Who cares about how Rick Ross lives his life or what he did in the past. Point is he makes great music, so does Kanye & Lil’ Wayne. 50’s first album was the s**t thanks to Dr. Dre, But evey since then he took us to the Candy Shop and an Amusement Park. So whatever. Don’t get so envolved in their lives, if you like their music buy It.”

(Hitmanz 8 @ Youtube.com)…
“All this 50 Cent and Rick Ross drama is crazy. It’s just music people. These rappers aren’t even real. Go back to the days of the NWA when Dre and Eazy-E used to wear make up and bumlicked the president respectively. Gangster is some gay shit, and nobody needs to be a gangster. Just get an education and enjoy the music.”

(Edit @ MTV.com)…
“And just for the record, people who aren’t in the streets or haven’t been a part of something similar can’t speak on Ross being a Correctional Officer…but if you were ever meant to be something bigger than the next guy you would already realize why that was what happened rather than call him a snitch or a cop. Sometimes the real bosses can’t talk on phones or through glass.

(Hypertrak @ Hypebeast.com)…
“Rick definitely bit off way more then he can chew with the 50 battle. He stepped up his rap game and got confident enough to go at 50 who Khaled has been having problems with for years, so he wanted to defend himself. But, dude has way too many skeletons in his closet. As you can see from this very thread rap fans care very much about this fairy tale, soap opera tough guy image stuff…so all 50 had to do was pull some of those skeletons out and it was over before it started. 50 loves this shit. He came into the game off of beef and this is the only reason anyone pays attention to him. SO it was right up his alley and I cant hate him for using the ammunition…anyone would. But just for reference the actual rap part of this shit has been weak from both sides. All of Ross’ disses to 50 have been wack & all the ones to Ross have been wack with maybe the exception of “Officer Down” & “What Tia Told Me” but neither of those are jaw dropping career enders within themselves. This “battle” has been more about personal exposure and funny videos and not about who can rap better. But, song for song…Deeper Then Rap is better then anything on “Curtis” or anything that I’ve heard on “Before I Self Destruct” So far. I sit and laugh at the videos and when 50 does that pimpin curly shit. But, it doesn’t affect me at all with whose music I like better or whose music I will continue to listen to. I find that shit childish.”

Questions and Comments can be sent to Chris at www.Myspace.com/BoxingHarmony