On Wednesday, Rick Ross’ fifth studio album, God Forgives, I Don’t, leaked six days before it was scheduled to drop in stores. Since the album went drip drip, it’s been the talk of the Internet (and our GlobalGrind offices).
MUSIC: Rick Ross Feat. Wale & Drake “Diced Pineapples”
We can all agree that the album is great, but exactly how good is the project? Is it Ross’ best project? Is it the best rap project of the year? Or, maybe a better question, is it even the best Ross project to drop this year?
VIDEO: Touch’N You! Rick Ross Gets Sexy On ‘Chelsea Lately’
Back in January, The Bawse dropped the impressive Rich Forever, a marvelous free mixtape that was the home of such hood classics like “Stay Schemin,” “Holy Ghost” and “Triple Beam Dreams.” Seven months later and it’s still one of the most critically acclaimed pieces of music to drop this year.
So which project was better?
Well, we’ll determine together.
Look through our post to see how we break down both albums using these five categories: lyrics, beats, guest appearances, the flow of the album and mainstream appeal. Look through our post and don’t forget to come back and vote on our poll.
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LYRICS
On most of Ross’ albums, the flamboyant rapper rarely steers away from the topic of finer living: this includes fast money, fast cars, fast women and fast food. That doesn’t really change much in Rich Forever and God Forgives, I Don’t.
Ross’ technique hasn’t advanced much in the last seven months, in both albums, the rapper is equally ill.
However, when it comes it lyrics, even though it’s close, we’re going to give the edge to God Forgives. Ross just talks about a variety of more topics, in a more introspective manner. Plus the skill he uses on “So Sophisticated” (ending each bar on the song using the same six syllables) is just plain nasty.
Winner: God Forgives, I Don’t
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BEATS
On God Forgives, I Don’t, Ross alternates between two speeds: loud, heavy, banging southern-influenced backdrops and smoother, more mafioso-style type of beats. The beats on the album don’t really differ from these two extremes, so at times the music on the album can be somewhat repetitive and dull.
On Rich Forever, there’s a crazy variety of beats on the tape, from the spacey sounding “Party Heart,” to the triumphant “MMG The World” to the poppy “Ring Ring.” Rich Forever’s diversity gives the tape the edge.
Winner: Rich Forever
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GUEST APPEARANCES
This one is tough. On each of these two projects you’ll find four of the best verses of the year. On Rich Forever, Nas spits some It Was Written-style raps on “Triple Beam Dreams,” while Drake raps venom at Common on “Stay Schemin.” On God Forgives, I Don’t, Jay-Z gets silly while holding his daughter on “3 Kings” and Andre 3000 puts in serious work on “Sixteen.”
Since all of those verses are equally great — let’s just cancel them out. And if you look at the rest of Rich Forever, there’s way more memorable guest moments on the tape, including 2 Chainz’s fun verse on “F*ck Em,” John Legend’s soulful singing on the title track and Diddy’s loud and boastful bragging on “Holy Ghost.”
Winner: Rich Forever
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THE ALBUM’S FLOW
Under the beats section we mentioned how diverse the music was on Rich Forever. However, that diversity kind of hurts the tape’s flow. On God Forgives, the pieces all seem to fit better. Even though all the songs on God Forgives are strong, the album has this nice flow throughout. The smooth songs are in the beginning, the street songs come in the middle and the album ends with songs for the ladies.
WINNER: God Forgives, I Don’t
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MAINSTREAM APPEAL
On God Forgives, I Don’t, Ross has numerous songs dedicated to ladies (four of the last five songs are for the opposite sex). Even though the songs are mainstream, that doesn’t mean they actually reach the mainstream. The album’s first single, “Touch ‘N You,” wasn’t the hit that Ross expected it to be.
In fact, Ross’ biggest hit this year was “Stay Schemin,” which was played everywhere the last seven months.
This tells us something: Ross’ makes better club, riding music then love-ballads (shocker!).
Rich Forever is full of club bangers that hit radio, even though the tape was never officially released.
Winner: Rich Forever
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Winner…
Yep, using the five different categories, we are determining that Rich Forever is the better release from The Bawse. Do you agree, or do you think we’re crazy? Let us know in the comments!
Rich Forever: 3
God Forgives, I Don’t: 2
