Yesterday marked the official anniversary of Rick Ross’ third studio album Deeper Than Rap, originally released twelve years ago in 2009. Featuring guest appearances from Kanye West, Foxy Brown, Trina, Lil Wayne, T-Pain, Robin Thicke, Nas, and more, the project remains a favorable effort from Renzel, though not quite touted among his strongest bodies of work. Still, it’s an album that’s well worth revisiting, and where better than the Nas-assisted “Usual Suspects?”
The chosen backdrop is a luxurious anthem from The Inkredibles, deftly capturing everything that Rick Ross represents — opulence and authority among the chief qualities. Though some proved hesitant to give Rozay his due as a lyricist, standing alongside Nas as an equal is no easy feat. He rises to the occasion admirably, lining up a pair of verses for the occasion. “17, time to man up,” he reflects. “Feed the fam boy, I put that on these canned goods / All I got was diabetes and a damn hug.”
Nas, aquatic compared to Ross’ methodical flow, joins his counterpart on memory lane. “And still my talent is yet to be challenged,
Had no jet with my own pilot, no blastin’ off with Flex or DJ Khaled,” he raps. “My mom stressin’ college / But my crude sense of logic did allude to my empty wallet.”
Twelve years since its original release, where do you stand on Deeper Than Rap?
QUOTABLE LYRICS
And still my talent is yet to be challenged
Had no jet with my own pilot, no blastin’ off with Flex or DJ Khaled
My mom stressin’ college, but my crude sense of logic did allude to my empty wallet