Rick Ross: Trilla
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Artist:
So, how do you cheapen your album? Well, if you’re going by Rick Ross’ handbook, give DJ Khaled his own interlude midway through your sophomore effort. When DJ Khaled can nearly define your entire album in a minute and a half, without really having said anything at all, you know you’re on the way to making just another rap album.To the regular rap listener, these shouted nothings—typical, even excusable, on mixtapes—may be all it takes to visualize the familiar scenarios presented in rap today. Among Khaled’s tried-and-true catchphrases are: “We here foreva! And we ain’t never gonna stop!â€; “Rick Ross is the streets!â€; and “Rick Ross is like the poor people president!†(points for the alliterative simile, Khaled). Interpreted through a rap fan’s ears, what he’s really saying is: there will be songs about Kush, Lean, “M.I.-Yayo,†movin’ weight, bitches, and of course, being way, way more trilla than you are (because, well, Rick Ross is the Boss, after all).
The music that accompanies Khaled’s interlude is also very telling, as it sticks to Trilla’s use of more dramatic, grandiose beats. It’s the only real departure from his debut album, a difference that can be attributed to multiple contributions from producers J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League (T.I., Young Buck, Young Jeezy). While the League-produced introduction makes for a solid, moody preface, one that fits Ross’ larger than life persona, “Maybach Music†finds verses from Ross and featured guest Jay-Z perfectly aligned with the track’s classy attitude. “Luxury Tax,†featuring Lil’ Wayne, Trick Daddy, and Young Jeezy, is another strong track laced with horns and pleasing “ooh’s†in the background.
It’s no surprise that auto-tune wonder boy T-Pain is featured on Ross’ current and catchiest single “The Boss.†Teddy-haters can thank Rick Ross for his attention-commanding bass of a voice, as it far outweighs the warbling effect. As Ross repeatedly states, “I’m the biggest boss that you’ve seen thus far,†you can smell a summer hit on the rise. The Bink!-produced track “We Shinin’†could easily be a single, although it sounds much too much like a Roc-A-Fella heyday Jay-Z song (it’s one I’m thinking of in particular, but I don’t know the name. If you do, please get at me), and Ross sounds like he’s doing his best impersonation of a pre-Grammy Kanye West imitating Jay-Z. Another producer who seems to be stuck in the past is Mannie Fresh, who lends a mediocre hook to “All I Have in This World.†Although the song features tight, cinematic, and daunting string arrangements, it’s Mannie’s hook that lacks. “Japanese denim, money stuffed in ‘em,†etc. makes this sound like something he’s been using since his old Cash Money days (remember “House real big, car real big�).
On his debut Port of Miami there was plenty of Miami bass; this sound is what differentiated him from the trillions of other southern rappers, and aside from his trademark “It’s Raaaawwwwsssss!†it’s what fans have come to associate him with. Listening to that album felt like smoothly speeding down the sunny Miami highway in a candy-painted Maybach. There could be argument that he’s branching out and not recreating the same album, but that argument could only exist if he were, in fact, branching out. Instead, Rick Ross gives us Trilla which has me worried there may be no room for switching lanes.
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