The Power of Persistence

Today, Jimmy DaSaint and I were working out on the weight pile when the word ‘persistent’ came up in our conversation. We both agreed that persistence is the one trait that all successful people have in common. Without persistence you will not be successful for long. Everybody goes through ups and downs in their life journey, but it’s not what you go through but how you deal with it when trouble or situations arrive. It made me think back to the one time I almost gave up on everything.

The year was 1995. I had just been arrested for trying to purchase 100 kilos of cocaine from an undercover DEA Agent. (continue reading…)

As Told to N. Ali Early

In the first installment of “The Kronikles of Freeway Ricky Ross,” the former King Pen blessed us with an exclusive that was months ahead of its time. In it he discussed his plans for outreach via his website www.freewayenterprise.com, where bloggers, artists and fans are encouraged to join and contribute. He also addressed the fact that the rapper Rick Ross, whose real name is William Roberts, not only adopted his name, but attempted to copyright it!

With rumors swirling about Robert’s past, namely having worked in Miami as a correctional officer at the age of 19 and recently denying it on two different occasions, Freeway Ricky Ross granted us another timely entry! Appropriately, this one picks up where the last one left off. As such, $RR$ elaborates on the copyright infringement process and his desire to mend fences two whole years ago before things got… er uh… OC.

I ordered the copyright papers from the trademark and saw that someone had already filled them out. So that’s how I found out what he was trying to do. At the time though, it was basically a situation where I just wanted him to come and see me so we could sort things out. So I ran him down thru a third party who knew of my interests. The funny thing is, I really wanted to help him with his career, kind of talk to him like a little brother. I mean, like I said before, a guy has to really respect you to go as far as he has. He has my name tattooed on himself. He has the bald head, the beard and his music is a direct reflection of how enamored he is with my past. Knowing all that, it was a situation to where I honestly wanted to give him some guidance in general life so that he could prepare himself for what he was getting into. But he wasn’t listening. He was more interested in making money and selling records. What’s worse is he lied.

I don’t appreciate him using my name at all. I found out recently that he put copyright infringements on my black planet website. BP closes my account and then tells me that I can re-open it only if I choose another name. This is beyond crazy. He didn’t just try to steal my name. He stole it. And you know, I’m angry because all this could have been avoided. There were times when we were communicating that he could have offered to put me on a song or make peace some kind of way. I had some friends that wanted to collaborate with him and they wanted to pay him, but I never pressed the issue and he never came through. In all honesty he should have been doing those types of things on the strength. There were a bunch of other rappers not named Rick Ross that wanted to do the same types of things just because.

I knew eventually it would blow up in his face because of the way he went about his business. If he had listened to me, these types of things wouldn’t be happening. I told him that he should be himself and not someone else. I mean, take Kobe Bryant for instance. He’s the best basketball player on the planet and he obviously borrowed a lot of his game from Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan was the best at what he did and if there was anyone to copy, it was him. The choice was obvious. But Kobe didn’t go and change his namesake and try to steal Mike’s identity. Had he done that nobody would have accepted him. In my opinion, what dude is doing is no different than what Milli Vanilli did. And for all we know, he may not even be rapping his own songs. That’s how fake Def Jam is now.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmbSTvBi-oQ]

I guess the two go hand in hand. I am surprised that he is denying his past, but he is a liar and a fake, so what else could I expect. A couple of cats from Miami put me up on him being a correctional officer, but nobody would listen to me. When I told people what I knew, they was saying I was hatin’ ‘cause he stole my name and was making money off of it. But as we see, that obviously wasn’t the case. I have known about his past for almost a year and a half. I got my ears to the street and I listen. I’m just not really the type of person to want to bust someone out.

I don’t know what’s on his mind, but it’s possible for me to be home in six months and either him or Def Jam is going to have to deal with our issues. I’m looking for a lawyer right now and I know it might be a long process, but it will be worth it. Only a clown would go about things the way he has. The only thing he cares about is selling records and that’s sad. – $RR$