“GOD FORGIVES is as engrossing and surprising as rap can be.” – Rolling Stone (4 Stars)  

“The sumptuous GOD FORGIVES, I DON’T is triumphant, haughty, and self-exploring.  Its lush production switches between shimmering strings to bellicose thumps, while its stories flex both elements of realism and imagination.” –XXL (XL rating)

 “The size and scope of GOD FORGIVES is undeniable…he’s been bragging about his rep since his 2006 debut, but GOD FORGIVES is the first album that really feels like it was made by a boss.” – Entertainment Weekly (A-) 

“Ross is one of the top bosses not just in hip-hop, but in music period....CLASSIC.” – Associated Press 

“GOD FORGIVES, I DON’T reflects deeper stirrings…on this commanding, complicated album, he wants more out of more." – Los Angeles Times

Def Jam Recordings’ hip-hop magnate Rick Ross, ranked #1 on MTV’s annual list of Hottest MCs In the Game for 2011 and 2012, weighs in with his fourth #1 Soundscan career debut for GOD FORGIVES, I DON’T (released July 31st), on first week sales of over 218,000 copies, his biggest first week sales tally ever. Sales were boosted by a flurry of singles and visuals from the project, including “Touch’N You” featUsher, “So Sophisticated” feat. Meek Mill, the controversial and stunningly dark “Hold Me Back,” and the triumphant “3 Kings” feat. Dr. Dre and Jay-Z.

In support of GOD FORGIVES, I DON’T, hip-hop’s biggest boss paid visits to ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live, E! network’s Chelsea Lately, and BET’s 106 & Park, as well as an exhaustive promo tour that took him acroos the country and back. He returns to CBS’s The Late Show with David Letterman next week, Wednesday August 15th. And arriving on newsstands on Friday, August 17th: Ross' first ever cover story for Rolling Stone magazine - a milestone in his burgeoning career. 

The #1 debut of GOD FORGIVES, I DON’T follows in the tradition of Rick’s Port Of Miami (2006), Trilla (2008), and Deeper Than Rap (2009), all #1 Soundscan debuts. 

“It’s my best body of work yet,” Ross told an expectant crowd at a recent Manhattan press conference.  “GOD FORGIVES, I DON’T is a very dark story…it’s extremely lyrical. The music is next level.  I’m expecting nothing but the biggest results.  That’s what’s needed, and I’m going to deliver!”  In addition to Usher, Rick is joined on the new album by an A-list of collaborators, including fellow Def Jam artist Ne-Yo (on “Maybach Music IV”), Dr. Dre and Jay-Z (on the single, “3 Kings”), André 3000 of OutKast (on “Sixteen”), Maybach Music artist Meek Mill (on the single “So Sophisticated”), Maybach Music artist Wale and Drake (on “Diced Pineapples”), and Maybach Music artist Stalley (on the album’s epic 7-minute closing track “Ten Jesus Pieces,” one of three album cuts produced by J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League).

GOD FORGIVES, I DON’T is the long awaited follow-up to Teflon Don (released July 2010), which spun off the back-to-back Top 5 R&B/Rap crossover hits “B.M.F. (Blowin’ Money Fast)” featuring Styles P, and “Aston Martin Music” featuring Drake and Chrisette Michele (#1 Rap). Other guests on that album included Ne-Yo, Kanye West, Cee-Lo Green, Jay-Z and John Legend together on one track, Trey Songz and Diddy together, T.I., Jadakiss and Erykah Badu together, and more.

Rick Ross rose from ruling Miami’s underground rap scene, to become 2006’s buzz-worthiest hip-hop artist with Port Of Miami, his RIAA gold #1 Pop/#1 R&B/#1 Rap major label debut album.  Its unstoppable single “Hustlin’” became the first mastertone ever certified platinum by the RIAA for sales of 1 million copies before the associated album had even been released. Port Of Miami’s second single was “Push It,” whose movie soundtrackexcerpts (circa 1990) from Giorgio Moroder’s “Scarface (Push It To The Limit),” evoked the gritty soul of Miami, a city that is always on the edge of exploding.

Six-foot-two, 300-pound Rick Ross – a “hip-hop heavyweight,” as described by the New York Times – came into his own on Trilla, whose second single release, “The Boss,” featuring T-Pain – Rick’s second RIAA platinum mastertone – rose to #2 on the Billboard Hot Rap chart, #5 R&B, and Top 20 on the Hot 100.  The next single, “Here I Am” featuring Nelly and Avery Storm, also hit Top 10 on the Rap and R&B charts.  The RIAA gold Trilla got off to a fast start with a release week performance on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live.  “The Boss” video went into rotation on MTV, MTV2, and MTV hits, along with BET and FUSE.

Deeper Than Rap, followed in 2009, named the #4 top-selling hardcore hip-hop album of the year byInterference.com. Deeper Than Rap got a big jump out the gate with its first single, “Magnificent” featuring John Legend, Top 5 on Billboard’s Hot Rap Tracks chart and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

Check for Rick Ross news on his website: www.Godforgivesidont.com