Defsounds

What happens when everything that you thought you knew was not necessarily the truth? What happens if you find out that someone that you have known for a while has been hiding a big secret from you for a long time? A secret that would make it difficult to take them seriously in the future? This is the dilemma that many of Rick Ross' fans are dealing with. Ross has gone from the rapper who we all trusted for his word, to the friend who you have caught in a lie. Although you would hope that their telling the truth, what you have learned, along with how they have reacted, shows you that they may still be lying. So here we are a couple of weeks removed from seeing one of his baby mother's in a sex tape with another man, and just a month or two past his admission that he actually was a parole officer, having his newest album Deeper than Rap and trying to figure out if the Ross we have known all this time is actually the real Rick Ross or just another officer caught in the act.

Lyrics 6.5 -

Well, what were you expecting? Ross has never, and will never be, a rapper that overpowers or just takes over any kind of beat...he wont drop too many lines that will upset or confuse, and he tends to stray away from punchlines. There is no such thing as wordplay in his rhyme scheme and his vocabulary can be found in any urban hood dictionary. Ross is good because he does not try to do more than he is capable of, and when he does try it, it is painfully obvious the results are not good. His flow is the same on almost every track, with the only difference being the speed of his delivery, which is altered depending on the style and tempo of the beat. Ross is bad because he has no versatility on the mic. His rhyme scheme is painfully predictable. His flow is never changing and despite a couple of fun lines scattered through out the album, he isn't to clever with how he puts his rhymes together. On tracks that he works with other artist, they easily outshine him. This comes as a serious disappointment as it is very difficult to be outshined on almost all of your tracks. Lil Wayne and Kanye West leave Ross in the dust on their group effort Maybach Music II and Ross never even puts up a fight with Nas in Usual Suspects.

Production 8.5 -

On any Ross album, the production is almost always guaranteed to be the strongest part of the album. This album is no different. Ross has the usual suspects on this album. The Runners, The Justice Leauge, DJ Tomp, And of course a little of Kanye west. The variations of smooth rhythm, hard bass beat drums and uptempo flairs give the production a strong selection of styles and tempos for Ross to work with. Along with the combination of Ross not trying to do too much on the beats, the production has an even bigger opportunity to shine through the mediocre lyrics.

Songs 7 -

Deeper than Rap is Ross' third album, so after talking about cocaine and how gangster he is, in his two previous albums, many fans might have wanted or expected him to expand his subject matter. Those fans should look towards the next Ross album for that to happen. The topics stay the same, right along with his flow, rhyme scheme and production choices. Ross gets points for somewhat explaining why he was a parole officer on the track Valley of Death, but seeing that out of 14 tracks this is the only real time that he brings it up... those points get taken right back. For all of the great production, there just isn't enough strong content to make this the kind of album that will get played over and over again. He does have a couple of stand outs though. Valley of Death, Maybach Music II, Mafia Music, and Cold Blood. Outside of those tracks, depending on the wants of the listener, the rest of the songs on this album are just mediocre at best.

Conclusion 7.3-

Ross is another one of those rappers that will not get much better than what he already is. If you're a fan of his, you already know this. So the real question that you have to ask yourself is..... Can you still respect and believe what he says as a rapper, even though you know he finally admitted that he was a corrections officer after he denied it for months? Will you be able to hear him talk about the mafia lifestyle without groaning in disgust, or is your perception of him now so tattered that you are only buying this album for the sole purpose of using it as a weed/ash tray. Ross will have lost a lot of fans because of everything that has happened. For the fans that stuck beside Ross despite everything that has happened, they may be a little disappointed with this album, as it is a lot softer than some of his other albums. Deeper Than Rap is a decent album that casual fans will like and hard core Rick Ross fans will deal with. Deeper Than Rap is pretty shallow. After two listens it may just get a little boring. But until then...let the music play.