Port of Miami (2006)

ADDICTIVE DEBUT Even with its unrelenting lyrical fixation on drug dealing giving pause, Ross' CD gets its hooks into you

A blustery hip-hop antihero, barrel-size Miami rapper Rick Ross uses his molasses-thick voice to tackle basically a single subject: cocaine. On Port of Miami, Ross turns the minute details of drug distribution and dealing into ominous, slow-rolling songs, like the hypnotic, organ-driven hit single ''Hustlin''' and the Scarface-goes-South Beach stomp of ''Cross That Line.'' In general, the whole ''crack-rap'' trend (see: Young Jeezy, Clipse) is a disheartening one, but Ross' pulpy debut manages to enthrall despite the drug-centric lyrics.