Rick Ross

Rapper “Every day I’m hustlin’,” were the first words uttered by Rick Ross on the 300-pound Miami rapper’s debut single. After moving from Houston’s Suave House to Miami’s Slip-N-Slide Records, Ross’s 2006 hustler’s anthem landed him in a high-stakes bidding war. He was finally signed by then Def Jam President Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, and his first two albums, Port of Miami and Trilla, debuted at #1 on the Billboard Albums chart. Bouncing back from a YouTube feud with 50 Cent and revelations that he once worked as a prison guard, Ross stepped up his lyrical game on 2009’s Deeper Than Rap. But it was the 2010 album Teflon Don that took him over the top. On tracks like “BMF (Blowin' Money Fast)” featuring Styles P and “Aston Martin Music” featuring Chrisette Michele and Drake, Ross sounds like a true boss. But "boss" isn't just a catchphrase for the rapper: With his Maybach Music Group label, featuring up-and-coming stars like Meek Mill, Wale and Pill, it's becoming a reality. Ross is getting ready to reconquer the charts himself with the upcoming God Forgives, I Don't, led by the singles "I Love My B----es" and "You the Boss," featuring Nicki Minaj. In 2013, Ross lost a multi-million dollar endorsement deal with Reebok after releasing (and, initially, failing to apologize for) a controversial lyric about rape on rapper Rocko’s “U.O.E.N.O.”