The End of Cred

On 2009?s Deeper Than Rap, however, Ross emerged, for the first time, as an artist worth taking seriously. Shrugging off the licit truths that had come to light the year before, he came into focus. The album begins with a breathtaking exercise in bravado: the song ?Mafia Music,? in which Ross, uninterrupted by a hook and accompanied by a choir and steamrolling organs, delivers 76 consecutive bars stocked with vivid turns of phrase (?trunk full of white, car smell like blue cheese?), autobiographical glimpses (?once had a job pouring tar up on the roof?), onomatopoeia (?woof!?), twisty, alliterative internal rhymes (?paper that I?m making got her taking photos naked ? dodging debacles like potholes in Jamaica?), name-droppy self-mythologizing (?Martin had a dream, Bob got high/ I still do both but somehow I got by?) and, in sideways nods to the C.O. revelations, threats to harm both cops and 50 Cent, who?d begun snidely referring to Ross as Officer Ricky. In 2010, Ross released Teflon Don, a fantastic album that doubled down on the tales of outsize, outlaw living. Drake and Busta Rhymes?more traditionally dazzling MCs than Ross?hailed it as the year?s best album. On one track, Ross sampled a Bobby Seale speech, audaciously linking his drug-dealing tales to a nobler history of struggle. Last year, Nas, as totemic a figure of classy, ?golden age? rap as you?ll find, joined the appreciation society: ?Rick is on fire,? he told BET. ?Rick has got a strong grip on the game.?

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=fc4398851cc7aa096efb650ddb3fbad2

nfl draft 2012 rose bowl 2012 nfl playoff picture nfl playoff picture ryan seacrest the secret life of bees sat cheating scandal