Rick Ross

• Genre: Dirty South
• Hometown: Miami
• Rick Ross Website

About

Allegedly, the real Rick Ross worked with the CIA-backed Contra rebels to secure the cheapest cocaine in America. "Freeway Rick" then turned the powder into rock -- the first time anyone had done this on a massive scale -- and kick-started a crack epidemic that spawned a generation of zombies and corpses. Rapper Rick Ross has spent his career projecting the sort of devil-may-care persona that his namesake would appreciate. First under the tutelage of Trick Daddy, and then on his own, the Miami rapper mixes bravado, menace and drug-land mayhem for nu-crack anthems. On his signature track, 2006's "Hustlin'," he assumes the history of his namesake and claims that "Noriega owes me about a 100 favors." He's into "distribution, I'm like Atlantic/ I got motherf*ckers flying across the Atlantic." The subsequent debut, Port of Miami, was similarly fantastical and fatalistic, proving that tragedy plus time equals a hit record.

- Sam Chennault