Rick Ross Tries To Stay Larger Than Life

Our look at the closing lines of the week’s biggest new-music reviews continues with a roundup of reactions to Deeper Than Rap, the third album by 50 Cent foil Rick Ross:

• “He may rap like he’s out of touch with reality, but with bass lines this deep and synths this huge, you might forget the present era’s woes yourself.” [Simon Vozick-Levinson, EW]

• “Ross stuck to the script, upgraded his rhymes, and upgraded his production and came away with what may be considered album of the year. Ross keeps getting better with every album, and if this is a sign of things to come, the Boss could become ‘the Down South Biggie.’ ” [King Jerm, nappyafro.com]

• “Similar to fellow rappers The Game and Young Jeezy, Ross continues to develop a reputation for being able to put together a complete product–despite repetitive subject matter. So no, there’s not much depth to Deeper than Rap, but that doesn’t supersede its impressive execution.” [Steve Kuperstein, HipHopDX]

• “Redundancy is an unsurprising and ignorable issue thanks to all the hooks and slick beats, including a batch from the returning Runners. Even if this isn’t much Deeper than the average Three 6 Mafia album, the glitz and guts of Deeper are a big step up, making Ross sound like a Miami-fied version of Young Jeezy. ” [David Jeffries, All Music Guide]