In a recent interview, American musician Rick Ross discussed how hip-hop artists who lose their money should have known better using his song Foreclosures off his Black Dollar mixtape as a reference. In it, Ross spits, “Ever seen a rich n—a go broke?/They putting liens on a n—a things” and later “To the culture itself, these are powerful lessons.”
He spoke further on that song in the interview, saying, “You watch certain things play out around you and unfold. You watch other artists or labels or whatever it is. Some of these can be people that you looked up to. We watched the demise of Suge Knight. I remember being a younger dude and people talking about the value of Death Row Records, $300 million net worth,” and in fact, he name drops Death Row in the song.
“That was something that I embraced as part of the culture as a fan. Look what we can create and look what we can build. And then you watch other artists that deserve the world and they end up in the position with almost next to [nothing]”
When asked about the lyric “The white man call us stupid n***as, we spend it all, nothing for our children,” he got introspective. “That fast lifestyle we live that I’m engulfed in myself… I love diamonds. But at the same time, it’s responsibilities that we got. Let’s make sure we handle our responsibilities when n****s out here flossin’.”
He added that money should not just be thought of in regards to buying expensive things; having money, he says, is a way to actually control your own destiny.
“I always spoke on the money. I always glorified the money, because at the end of the day, that’s the power. That’s the way we execute our dreams. It’s not just the money to go and get steaks and lobsters! When the homies need to do crown and they need the paper to execute it, we ain’t gotta beg nobody, we got it ourself! If we wanna shoot a movie, if nobody don’t see our vision, let’s do it ourself! If it’s time to record the album and the label hasn’t seen your vision, you can do it yourself! That’s what that’s always been about.”