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August 16, 2006
Ross is Number One!
He ain't petty, player! As I figured he would, Miami rapper Rick Ross went straight to the top of the Billboard album charts this week with his debut album Port of Miami (Slip N' Slide/Def Jam). Let's be real about this, I totally dig seeing the name Ross at #1, even though I fully realize that dude's government name is actually William Roberts. Of course "Roberts" doesn't really rhyme with "boss"...and you can't stretch it out and enunciate it like "Raaussssss". So Mr. Roberts borrowed a snappier-sounding moniker from a notorious criminal (and definitely not from the more law-abiding Javalobby founder who spoke at a conference I attended in Boston a few years ago).
As both a music trivia freak and a Ross, I would like to note that this week marks the first time in almost 34 years that an artist named Ross has reached #1 on the Billboard Albums Chart. Diana's soundtrack to the 1972 Billie Holiday biopic Lady Sings The Blues hit #1, but somewhat surprisingly, none of her other solo (i.e. post-Supremes) full-lengths topped the albums chart. Not even 1980's smash hit diana, which sold around 6 million copies and featured the #1 single "Upside Down" and the #5 hit "I'm Comin' Out". Such is the strangeness of Billboard chart formulas in the pre-Soundscan era.
I'll have some good things to say about the actual music on Port of Miami when I get around to throwing up my August picks next week. Until then, this post is just a congratulatory shout-out to Rick Ross the chart-topping Boss. You pushed it to the limit, Ross!
Posted by Tim at August 16, 2006 11:30 PM