Rick Ross Says Kanye West Made Him Scrap His Initial "Devil In A New Dress" Verse

Rick Ross recalls the story behind one of his most praised verses to date.

BYAron A.
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Rick Ross and Kanye West have worked together on numerous occasions. While Ye's lent his talents to Rozay and vice verse, they've come through with some memorable moments in hip hop. However, one moment that stands out particularly is Ross' contribution to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy with his verse on "Devil In A New Dress." A verse that will go down as one of Rick Ross' best guest verses to date. 

Rick Ross recently sat down with Complex News at ComplexCon where he divulged on a bit of unknown information surrounding one of his best verses to date. The rapper already spoke on the panel at the convention about his experience working with Kanye but he went into a bit more detail about the process. Working with Kanye was a unique experience for Ross. He said Kanye allowed so many different creative minds and individuals into one room to help create the album. However, he does note that Kanye's standard helped him create some of his best work to date with his verse on "Devil In A New Dress."

"When I recorded that verse for the first time, he came in, heard it and he told me he thought I could do better and he walked out," he said, "And then I wrote another one and the second verse I wrote is the one you hear on the album which a lot of people consider one of Rozay best verses. Shout out to Yeezy."

He said afterwards that he never really re-writes his verse for anyone and he was kind of caught off guard by Kanye's request.

"No one has ever asked Renzel to re-do a verse," he said, "I wasn't offended because I knew he was sincere and I just said, 'You know what?... I know it's new for me but I'mma take this as you know, a big brother pushing me to go to another height.'"

It sounds like something Kanye would do in the first place. However, if it weren't for 'Ye pushing all the artists on his album to their fullest potential, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy may have not been as great as it is.

Check the interview below: 


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About The Author
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.