Def Jam president Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter announced the signing of Miami rapper Rick Ross in a distribution deal with Def Jam. Ross's single "Hustlin" generated a nationwide buzz on hip-hop airwaves.

Rick Ross, who has repped the Miami underground scene since the late 1990s, remains on Slip-N-Slide Records. Rumors of bidding wars began circulating in early January 2006, including talks with Atlantic Recordings, Cash Money Records, and Bad Boy Entertainment. In 2005, when Young Jeezy stepped away from the Atlanta group Boyz N Da Hood, Rick Ross was considered his potential replacement after appearing on their 2005 self-titled album, but the deal never came to fruition.

"I sat down with a lot of people and ultimately [Def Jam] came with the best situation," Ross explained. "I feel comfortable with their system. It's obvious they know what they're doing. We wanna win big. They wanna win big. So we knocked it out."

In hip-hop, you have to be as big as the culture you represent. You have to be more than music, more than mixtapes, more than a fad. You have to be a movement. Rick Ross, in the tradition of Ice Cube and Jay-Z, is a rebel hustler. He's a renegade who gives you an inside look at how it really goes down in America's paradise. He gives a voice to those who have none. You're going to hear him loud and clear. Hop on board, or get out of the way.

Notable songs include --

Years active: 
   ..00s

Based:
   ..in Florida
      ..in Miami