Port of Miami

Rick Ross shouldn’t be as compelling as he is. His vocals are dispassionate to the point of an almost regal bemusement, which is an incredible thing to pull off on your debut album. He arrives fully formed on Port of Miami, his entirely fictional persona as the world’s richest, most lavish-living drug kingpin reiterated with total confidence and seemingly nothing to prove. His style, which involves a lot of repetition of words (he infamously rhymes “Atlantic” with “Atlantic” on the single “Hustlin’”), is more intricate and complex than it seems, and he floats in the middle of various producers’ lush, blown-out tracks like he’s rapping from an inflatable throne in the middle of a pool. Remembering that he worked as a corrections officer before getting his music career off the ground makes hearing him rap over the S.W.A.T. theme on “I’m Bad” hilarious, but on the other hand, it’s a great break, so why not?