Album Review: Rick Ross - God Forgives, I Don’t

Rick Ross is larger than life – in fact, at an estimated 150kg, he's larger than Hercules (the world's biggest dog), Sponge Bob (the world's biggest cat) and Thumbelina (the world's smallest horse) put together. But we're not here to judge his physique, we're here to judge God Forgives, I Don't, the sixth solo album from the man his mother named William Leonard Roberts II and MTV News named The Hottest MC In The Game 2012.

To listen to a Rick Ross joint is to be pulled, willingly or otherwise, into his orbit. There's no better example of this than Three Kings featuring Dr Dre and Jay-Z. It's a rant of bombast and braggadocio over a cacophony of cymbal sizzle and bass loops, and the chronology in the collaborators is Ross saying he's this decade's Dre or Jay. This, of course, is debatable. Sixteen with Outkast's Andre 3000 is the most interesting track, and will appeal to hip hoppers who have resisted Ricky thus far. The unabating motor-driven beat and neverending blunted bars (the track comes in at over eight mins) almost parody the relentless, pitiless nature of the album's subject matter and all encompassing sheen of the expensive-sounding production – it's a great number.

This album stands in companionship and contrast to Def Jam's recent release from Nas – Life Is Good. The contrast part is the gulf in narrative skill of Ross and Nas (Nas wins). The similarity is that both records are from artists at the top of their particular niche, and it's a good thing that even in commercial rap both will have their own fanbase.