Rick Ross New Song “Little Havana” from New Album ‘Richer Than I Ever Been’ Finds the Boss In Top Form

Paul Cantor
2 min readDec 7, 2021

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Rick Ross has a new album, Richer Than I Ever Been, dropping this Friday (December 10). It’s his 11th album, following 2019’s Port of Miami 2 (a sequel to his 2006 debut), and yet even though it feels like the Miami rapper’s output should be tapering off — he is, after all, fifteen years in (not counting the years he spent grinding before anyone knew who he was) — he somehow still sounds as fresh as he ever did, if not more so.

Last month, “Outlawz,” the 21 Savage and Jazmine Sullivan-assisted first single from the new album came out; it’s now followed by “Little Havana,” a more straightforward flex, with Ross detailing his street bona fides over a smooth, R&B-inflected track. It’s buoyed by vocals from The-Dream, and an introduction from Willie Falcon, the drug kingpin who, along with Sal Magluta, was recently the subject of the Netflix docuseries Cocaine Cowboys: Kings of Miami (itself a sequel to the classic Cocaine Cowboys).

Ross has been rapping about the same things forever — cocaine, being street certified, and his plethora of riches — but it doesn’t appear the weapons in his arsenal demand change. In fact, he alludes to this in the song’s opening line: “Problem was I never was a prodigy,” which means that Ross had to work that much harder to get where he is, and even now, when it appears he might kick his feet up, he’s still working away, perfecting his art. There is a formula to a Rick Ross song, you see, and he’s still tweaking it.

As for the album title, Richer Than I Ever Been, in a recent chat with Questlove, Ross explained the album title was, ahem, deeper than rap.

“After spending time with myself during the pandemic, it convinced me to make sure that that was the title,” he said. “The time I’m really spending with myself is when I feel the wealthiest. That’s when I feel like, “Yo, you’re the most valuable.” These moments are priceless. What makes you feel rich? What’s wealth? Me on the couch with my kids on my lap. That’s me feeling the richest I could feel. It ain’t no doubt we gettin’ big bags, but it’s a higher place than that. It ain’t even about the money, it’s something else out here.”

Listen: Rick Ross — “Little Havana”

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Paul Cantor

Wrote for the New York Times, New York Magazine, Esquire, Rolling Stone, Vice, Fader, Vibe, XXL, MTV News, many other places.