Rick Ross Channels Notorious B.I.G.'s Emotions, Ability To Story-Tell

Southern rapper Rick Ross recently talked about his admiration for the late Notorious B.I.G. and explained what characteristics he takes from the iconic emcee.
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In addition to B.I.G., Ross also spoke on his close relationship with Diddy.

"You know, we had been recording some things, but up to that point, we hadn't released nothing," Ross said about recording with Puff. "Me and Diddy had just been in the studio several times, trying things out and creating some stuff. When he made the comparisons of me and Biggie, I didn't take them as me being compared to Biggie. Biggie is maybe the greatest of all-time. That wouldn't even be a fair comparison. But I sometimes try to channel the emotions Biggie had in his music and his ability to tell stories. It touched me in a certain way."

Junior Mafia's Lil Cease recently compared Ross to Biggie.

"As far as with Ross, it's the delivery," Cease said in an interview. "He's lyrically hands-on. Just his whole swag, to me, he's just the dude. That big black dude. Every time I see him, he gives the feel of just B.I. Just his whole swag too. He's got that confidence that B.I. had. B.I. was real confident. No matter how he looked, he would say it in rhymes: 'Fat, black and ugly as ever.' That's one of the most quoted lines. It didn't do nothing for him but make him a better person. Ross got that same swag. He knows he's dope. Then when you getting the best of the best co-signing you, it makes you go harder. I feel he made three dope albums. He can get that Big effect where he's consistent with it. A lot of his material is just dope music. You can't knock him at the end of the day. Whether you want to compare him to Big or not, he's a dope artist."

Last January, Puff described how Ross resembled his late Bad Boy artist.

"Oh y'all ain't hear the second verse," Diddy said about Ross' 'Angels' collaboration. "Yo, y'all gonna peep that when we world premiere that. I don't know, I guess him and Biggie locked up in the room, even my man Hen Roc even said that. For my man Hen Roc to say that and co-sign it like 'Yo, my man right there sounding like our homie.' That right there is something special. That's a mean co-sign, that's a mean co-sign. I don't know what was going on in the studio, the spirits were connecting but it's official. It ain't bootleg, it ain't got no preservatives in it."

J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League producer Colione previously talked about Ross' Deeper Than Rap being inspired by the late rapper.

"We actually went to the theaters and saw the Notorious," he explained. "When we got home, we were inspired to work with B.I.G. So we started making tracks for him and 'Magnificent' was one of the beats that came out. We were like, 'Yo, if Biggie was alive today what would he rap to?' We were actually doing it for ourselves. Actually, our management sent that to Ross."

Check out Rick Ross speaking with SOHH below: