William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), better known by his stage name Rick Ross, is an American rapper. He derived his stage name from the drug trafficker “Freeway” Ricky Ross. Ross founded the record label Maybach Music Group, on which he released his studio albums Deeper Than Rap and Teflon Don.
William Leonard Roberts II was born in Coahoma County, Mississippi and raised in Carol City, Florida, near Miami After graduating from Carol City Senior High School, he later attended the historically black college Albany State University in Albany, Georgia.
After being signed to Suave House Records, former label for rap duo 8Ball & MJG, he eventually signed a deal with Slip-n-Slide Records, which has been under the Def Jam umbrella since 2006. While signed to Slip-n-Slide, Ross toured with fellow rapper Trick Daddy and made guest performances on other Slip-n-Slide rap albums
His debut album Port of Miami was released in August 2006 and debuted at the top spot on the Billboard 200 album chart, with sales at 187,000 units after its first week
In March 2008, his second album Trilla was released and, as its predecessor Port of Miami had, debuted at the top of the Billboard 200.[8] Its lead single “Speedin’” featuring R. Kelly peaked at #121 on the Billboard Hot 100; the next one, “The Boss” featuring T-Pain peaked at #17 on the Hot 100. The third single “Here I Am” featured Nelly and Avery Storm.
