It comes as no surprise to anyone that Rick Ross makes his presence felt. His stature, his growl, his often shirtless existence—these are all things that Ross uses to notify the world that the Bawse is in the building. But what about on the track?

A Rick Ross song is usually owned by Rick Ross. He has the most significant airtime, and his flows are usually the bawsiest (if that’s a thing). Assisting someone else though, and Rick Ross is competing for the shine. He’s no stranger to a cameo though. We've see Rick Ross on a whole slew of cuts, ranging from his MMG soldiers to the umpteenth bars he lends to DJ Khaled whenever the DJ needs a re-up for one of his gargantuan posse cuts. All Khaled features aside, we’ve compiled Rick Ross’ best guest verses. They don’t have to be the best songs per se, but these were the Bawse’s bars that made the artist’s track that much better. --KI


“Accident Murderers” (Nas)
Ross opens his verse with, “We grew up doing graffiti,” a stray from his typical hustle rap that he’s known for. Sure, he only briefly took it back to the roots before launching into a discussion of his obsession with wealth and paranoia, but he clearly upped his own ante knowing he was sharing air with God’s Son.


“Devil In A New Dress” (Kanye West)
While this is Kanye West’s track off My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy—and Kanye West loves being in charge—Ross gets quite the lengthy verse on this one. He travels through what feels like an emotional career resume, going from sipping Rosé alone to priding himself on going against the grain (“I never needed acceptance from all you outsiders”). He pats himself on the back with finesse, even better than the owner of the track.


“Lord Knows” (Drake)
Back in the early days before the phrase “YOLO” ruined lives, Drake and Rick Ross were chanting it in the hopes of one day creating a collaborative project surrounding that very acronym. It never happened, but this delightful verse from Rick Ross did. He opens with “I fell in love with the pen, started fucking the ink,” which isn’t the most tasteful line but it’s yet another example of Ross straying from his usual formula to set the stage for the rest of his verse about saunas with Jewish men and buying cars bi-weekly.


“Ambition” (Wale)
It took a guest verse on a Wale track to bring out a more vulnerable side to Rick Ross. He treats his bars like a confessional, discussing his humble beginnings with the hopes of more. “Ambition” was the fuel that brought Ross to his current state, but he goes into detail on the verse about how it didn’t come easily. From dealing with his mother’s medical conditions to struggling with the bills, he excuses his moving weight in the interest of funding his future. That’s ambitious, right?


“Ali Bomaye” (Game)
It’s funny. Remember those days back when people tried to clown Rick Ross for being a C.O.? Well his verse on “Ali Bomaye” feels like it’s him throwing darts at everyone else. He calls out the fake G’s, girls (sorry, hoes) with low standards, and even keyboard thugs on the blogs. Ouch. Officer Ross has officially run out of fucks to give about you.


“John” (Lil Wayne)
Amidst all of the “ruh ruh ruhs” that Rick Ross offers to the song, he also comes correct on his verse. We learn a valuable lesson about drugs, that if you drop Palmolive into cocaine, it hardens it up and makes it more desirable, albeit less pure. Shout out to Google for the info on that one.


“Millions” (Pusha T)
The track is called “Millions,” and it’s clear that Rick Ross takes that title very seriously, backed with some diverse metaphors sprinkled in between. He discusses how the idea that making money through crimes haunts him as he watches other people do it (my how times have changed), but then turns around and talks about doing drugs with Donatella Versace. He also calls the push start on a Ferrari “finger fucking,” so feel free to use that one if you own a Ferrari too.


“Free Spirit” (Drake)
Drake doesn’t give Rick Ross too much time to shine, but he makes his verse the best on the track. He describes his relationship with the dough as almost a sexual thing, fondling money and fornicating with the fortune. It then becomes this extended metaphor of comparing women to money (“Not a wrinkle in her ass”). With most of Ross’ bars being so overt, his “Free Spirit” ones are just that – free-spirited.


“Flippin’ That” (Nina Sky)
Before Queens twin duo Nina Sky had Rick Ross on their single “Curtain Call,” he was on this b-side called “Flippin’ That.” The track is about the twins moving weight for their men, with Rick Ross coming through with a hot 16 about tucking neenas in “both of Nina’s purses” and riding through in a Maserati with candy-coated paint. It’s the perfect Bonnie plus Bonnie plus Clyde track.


“Fire” (Bun B)
Is there anything better than hearing Rick Ross chant “Big belly man”? Probably not, and that’s exactly how Ross opens his verse on Bun B’s track. He launches into a formula of 20% tints on his windows with 20% friends in his crew. That’s cool, but don’t forget “Big belly man! Big belly man man!”


“I’ma Boss” (Meek Mill)
It’s virtually impossible to have “Boss” in your song title and not have Rick Ross come in and swoop up all the attention. Ross starts off kind of comical with “Got so many shades they thought I had a lazy eye.” But then gets pretty dark as he starts picturing his own demise by assuming he’s going to get killed and he hopes to look the killer in his eyes. It’s pretty intense, that is until he starts rattling off the names of athletes at the end.


“I Still Wanna” (Pusha T)
When you visualize Rick Ross in his present state, it’s hard to picture the earlier struggle. He alludes to it on this Pusha T track, where he paints a sad visual of him looking through a peephole, as he watched his mother’s car get repossessed. He discusses the absence of his father, trying to make money returning cans to the recycling plant. It’s like Ghostface Killah’s “All That I’ve Got Is You” only with a velour lined ending.


“Angels (Remix)” (Diddy-Dirty Money)
Rick Ross has the unusual honor of grabbing two separate verses on Diddy-Dirty Money’s track and thankfully he bodies both of them. This was back when everyone was afraid that Diddy was trying to turn Ross into the new Biggie and Nicki Minaj into the new Lil’ Kim. It’s good that those days are long gone, but it doesn’t take away from the quality and poignancy of Ross’ bars on this remix.


“Poor Decisions” (Wale)
Does it count as a Rick Ross guest verse when it shows up on an MMG compilation? Sure why not. It’s technically Wale’s song with Ross and Lupe Fiasco as the special guests. While the hook on this one belongs to Ross, his verse reads like a spoken word poem. Imagine him showing up to Def Poetry Jam to read it though?


“Hustle Hard Remix” (Ace Hood)
Ace Hood wrote a whole song about hustling, but he was too late. Rick Ross’ introductory track crushed any future tracks about hustling from here on out. It makes sense why Rick Ross would jump on the remix though to show Ace Hood what hustling is really all about it. He doesn’t exactly show him that, but he still delivers some hard bars about being the King Of Diamonds and having to text your preacher after he kills you. That’s technologically dangerous.

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