When you hear someone name-drop another artist on a song, your ears naturally perk up. This is especially the case when that name is Kanye West's and it's coming out of Rick Ross' mouth, given the camaraderie they've established throughout their careers. If you've given Ross' new album, Port Of Miami 2 a spin yet, you know that Kanye's name pops up right in the first bar of the first verse of the Noc & J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League-produced track, "Vegas Residency".
On the song, Rozay raps:
"Yo, watchin' Kanye interview, feel like I wanna cry
For every innocent brother charged with a homicide
Went from battle raps to now we wearin' M.A.G.A. hats
Dade County, nigga, mansions up in Tamarac
Never golfin' with the Trumps and I give you my word"
The sentiment behind the line seems rather straight-forward, but for anyone who wanted further clarification, Ross agreed to break it down when speaking to Genius. "It was nothing personal," he said at the 33:30 mark. "It wasn't in a disrespectful way. It wasn't a diss. It wasn't none of that. It was just facts, me sitting up and I'm seeing, 'Okay, I see what's going on, I see the temperature. I see Kanye standing next to Donald Trump, okay. It's just something I got to address."
So I guess this can be interpreted as Ross looking past Kanye's Trump endorsement, and the line simply documenting his initial shock when hearing the news. Ross mentioned that "Vegas Residency" is the oldest track on the album, so his take on the situation may have changed.
In the rest of the Genius interview, Ross ranks his albums (the first Port of Miami being his favorite), shares that he has recordings of the late Bobby Womack (that he still feels are too "powerful" to touch), and emphasizes that the title of his 2012 album still holds true (God Forgives, He Don't... unless you're Kanye I suppose).
You can watch the interview below.
