[Feature] Freeway Ricky Ross: Hustlers Mentality
Photo by Andres Herren
Fourteen years ago in Florida, a correctional officer by the name of William Leonard Roberts II had grown tired of the long hours, low pay and disrespect that being a prison guard afforded. A fan of hip-hop, Roberts decided to try his hand at the craft and, to further pad his perceived 'thug' hip-hop persona, adopted the name of famed drug dealer 'Freeway' Ricky Ross, who at the time was in jail on charges of international cocaine trafficking. Soon, he popped up on Slip n' Slide Records, discussing the finer points of moving large amounts of narcotics across the American borders with heavy bravado, big claims for a man who had been working for the man just months before. If you bought an album named Mastermind by an artist named 'Rick Ross' last week, you've been duped.
In 1998, while Roberts II was trying on the name Rick Ross, tailoring it to his needs, the man who's name was hijacked was in prison, doing all he could to piece his life back together and right the connotations he had perpetuated for the moniker.
"I couldn’t sell drugs now, not knowing what I know today,” said Freeway in an interview we did over the phone last October. "At the same time when I look back at my knowledge and circumstances at the time, I really had no choice.”
Rick Ross Sues LMFAO
William Leonard Roberts II, also known as "Rick Ross," has found himself in the news quite a bit as of late. Most recently, a lawsuit has been filed in Florida in both his name and Jermaine "Mayne Zayne" Jackson, one half of the production duo The Runners, alleging Copyright Infringement against the pop duo LMFAO for their 2010 song "Party Rock Anthem". In the song the phrase "Everyday I'm shufflin'" is sung, which is similar to the chorus of Roberts' 2006 song "Hustlin". Interestingly, LMFAO's publisher, Kobalt Music Group was joined as a defendant on the lawsuit by Kia Motors America, who licensed "Party Rock Anthem" for commercials.
The lawsuit reads, according to The Hollywood Reporter, "The use of 'Hustlin' ' in 'Party Rock Anthem' is readily apparent, despite the slight change from 'Everyday I’m hustlin' …' to 'Everyday I'm shufflin' …' and constitutes, [among other things], the creation of an unauthorized derivative work..." And that the lyric is, "performed in a manner to sound like" Ross. They also call it "[...]an obvious attempt to capitalize on the fame and success of 'Hustlin''... The phrase is so important to the success of 'Party Rock Anthem,' that LMFAO launched a highly successful clothing line, Party Rock Clothing, that features the phrase on T-shirts and other clothing items."
Roberts also ended his ongoing civil trial with former drug kingpin "Freeway" Ricky Ross, who had been suing him for appropriating his image and life story into a successful rap career. A judge found Roberts not guilty on that charge earlier this week, just after releasing a verse on Kanye West's "Bound 2".
[via The Hollywood Reporter]