Music Review

Port of Miami (2006)

EW's GRADE
B

Details Release Date: Aug 08, 2006; Lead Performance: Rick Ross; Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap

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

Originally posted Aug 04, 2006 Published in issue #890 Aug 11, 2006 Order article reprints

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